Time in the Eyes of a Dragon
by bdlywrttn
Summary: There is something that the other guardians in the temple learned long ago, and it's time Mushu did too. At the same time,Li Ching Lan needs to learn what kind of life she wants to live. Both on the same journey to help someone they love.
1. Wakeup Call

_Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the movie Mulan. That is owned by Disney. I own my characters, though. If you see a character in here that is not in the Mulan movies, then it's probably mine._

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It was dark and quiet in the ancestor temple of the families Fa and Li. The air was cool and still as a small cricket struggled to pull a small gong and hammer along the stone floor. Once it had lifted the string of the gong as high as it could, it quickly attempted to strike the gong with the hammer, only to lose balance and fall. The gong only made a thunking noise as it hit the floor beside the cricket.

After a moment the cricket hopped up and tried again, this time doing away with the hammer. It lifted the gong as it had before, and banged its back feet on the surface. The kick it had given sent the gong shooting out of its front legs and clanging back to the floor.

The sound that rang out was not as loud as the cricket had wanted, but it was apparently effective.

High above the cricket on the floor something was happening, a faint red glow and a small amount of smoke was emanating from what appeared to be a statue of a small dragon. The glow became progressively brighter until the dragon opened his eyes. Once he began to move the glowing subsided, then flashed, and the dragon yawned and stretched as if he had been asleep.

"Ugh, who ordered the wake-up call?" The dragon mumbled tiredly as he looked around. He then spotted the cricket, still on the floor.

The dragon brightened up when he saw the cricket. "Well, hey Cri Kee!" He then jumped down from the pedestal he had been on and headed towards the cricket.

The cricket chirped in fear at the dragon coming towards him, it quickly made a running hop behind an ancestor tombstone.

The dragon now looked confused as he looked where the cricket was hiding. "Hey, what's wrong with you? Come on, Cri Kee it's me, Mushu!"

The cricket leaned its head around the side of the tombstone. Then, probably deciding the dragon wasn't going to hurt him, came slowly back out into the open. Commenting on what the dragon had said, the cricket shook its head and chirped nervously.

The dragon named Mushu seemed to understand what the cricket was saying. "What, you mean you're not Cri Kee?"

The cricket nodded.

"Well then, who are you?"

The cricket chirped again.

"You're a _descendent _of Cri Kee?"

The cricket nodded again. Mushu looked at the cricket a little closer than he had.

"Huh, I guess I should've known. You don't look exactly like him. Your head is darker, and those things coming outta your head are shorter than his."

The cricket pulled its antennae down as if to inspect them, and Mushu asked another question.

"Ok, so what's your name?"

The cricket stopped looking at his antennae and chirruped, it seemed to be getting used to Mushu.

Mushu just stared at the little creature. "Wait, I'm not sure I got that, what is your name?"

The cricket looked up at him and repeated. Mushu looked halfway between astonishment and laughter.

""Cri Kee XXIV?" _That's _your name? XXIV, as in 24? What does that mean?"

The cricket began to explain, but Mushu cut him off. He was leaning more towards astonished now.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I get that it means that you're the 24th member of your family with the name Cri Kee, but what does that _mean_? I mean, how far a descendant of him are you?"

As the cricket told him, Mushu cut him off again. "Whoa, whoa. That's a lot of "greats." So, if you're that far down the line, how long's it been since Cri Kee was around?" He turned and looked high up to the pedestal he had been on. "How long was I asleep?"

Completely forgetting to ask why he had been woken up, Mushu now stroked his chin and tried to figure out how long it had been.

Cri Kee XXIV seemed to be trying to help now, he chirped a question to Mushu.

"Well the last thing I remember doing was visiting Mulan after she and Shang finally had that baby. Yeah...that was it. It had been a long time coming, but they finally had a kid. A son, I think he was. But, how long ago was that?"

"About forty years." came a voice from behind them.

Mushu and Cri Kee XXIV turned around to see the transparent figure of a short, elderly woman, an ancestor spirit. She sat on her tombstone, her hands folded neatly on a lap that ended with a ghostly tail. Her voice was somewhat raspy and had a faint echo. She gave a small smirk as she looked at Mushu.

"Hey, I remember you. You're Mulan's grandmother. You came here a few years before Mulan and Shang had their kid."

"Yes, that's me. My real name is Fa Okeina Lan, but you can call me "Grandma Fa" if that suits you more. It seems to suit everyone I talk to." said Grandma Fa. "I was the one who asked little Cri Kee XXIV here to wake you."

It was still registering with Mushu that he had been inactive for forty years, so he was only half listening. He couldn't think of why no one would need him for so long, then something else struck him. "Hey wait. Don't you have to go through the head ancestor to be able to wake guardians?" he indicated the most prominent tombstone.

"Usually yes, but what that old stiff doesn't know won't hurt him. Plus this is very important, and since this concerns Mulan I thought you would want to help."

"How come they didn't need my help for so long?" Mushu asked now saying what he'd been thinking.

"I don't know why, but right now is when you are needed, Mushu. I have seen what is to come, and what must be done about it. Mulan is about to become very ill, and her granddaughter..."

"Wait, wait, hold up. "Granddaughter?" Since when does Mulan have a granddaughter?" Mushu interrupted.

"Quiet, you! Let me finish!" Grandma Fa snapped at him. "As I was saying, Mulan will fall ill, and her granddaughter will journey far to obtain the medicine that can cure her. It is not yet Mulan's time to pass into the spirit world, and her granddaughter could not possibly go alone, so that is why you must go with her. To protect her."

Mushu waited for her to finish, then chuckled a little. "Sorry, there, Grandma Fa, but ever since you got here you've been making "predictions" just like that and I've never seen any of them come true. Granted, I've been out of it for most of your stay here, but still."

Grandma Fa now looked annoyed, she was probably starting to regret waking this dragon.

"Is a little blind faith too much to ask? It is going to happen, and if you do not go and guard the granddaughter of Mulan and Shang, not only will Mulan die prematurely, but both families, Li and Fa, will cease to continue."

"What?" Mushu asked, thinking he'd missed something.

"While on her trip to get the medicine, their granddaughter will meet the man she will marry. So this event is also crucial in carrying on the families' line."

"So, you're saying that I have to tag along with this girl, or my friend will die and the families I'm supposed to be protecting will end forever?"

"That's the gist."

"Well, I'm still not that sure...but you sure do know how to motivate! I'm in." Mushu said. "So when do we leave?"

"Soon." Grandma Fa answered. "Return to your pedestal for now."

Mushu felt it seemed like a waste to be woken up just to go back again a few minutes later, but he did what she said.

He was just assuming his position when he thought of something else.

"Hey, one more thing, why couldn't they just get medicine from somewhere around here?"

Grandma Fa was looking more than annoyed now. "Because the cure is rare, no doctor would have it around these parts. Now go back to your immobile state! Wait until Shang and his son come to pray for Mulan, then go with them. That is when it begins."

"Ok, Shang and son, got it." Mushu said as he was freezing back. He attempted to stay awake this time, however, so that he could see when Shang and his son would come.

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_Author's Note: Not the best first chapter. Mostly because I wrote it about a year ago, and it hasn't seen much revising. Hope it's still good. At least it's a start! Might start leaning more towards drama as the story goes on. :-)_


	2. Ching

Ching awoke with the usual groan of tiredness. She didn't remember what she had been dreaming about, it seemed less important now that her groggy mind began to work again.

She fought the urge to roll over and pull the blanket closer. Through her eyelids, she could see the brightness of the sun through her small window. She tried to open them, then had to squint as she sat up.

The realization that the sun was so bright because she had woken up late only just then dawned on her, but once she realized it, she bolted up and began to run out of her room.

Her hair fell in her face, and when she pushed it back she felt a mass of tangles. She gave an exasperated sigh, she would have to comb it later.

She dashed into the main room, where her mother was already busy sewing.

"You're late again." she said without looking up at her daughter. Ching stopped for a moment in front of her.

"I know, I'm sorry." she managed to say quickly through her anxiousness.

"Don't apologize, just go on." Her mother's tone held no emotion, she didn't look up from her hands.

"Have they come home yet?" Ching was searching the room for some sign her grandparents had returned, but the house seemed oddly silent, even Enlai was being quiet.

"Not yet," her mother said to her sewing.

Ching nodded and ran outside to begin her chores. If she'd stayed in the room a second longer she would have seen her mother smile down at her sewing, shaking her head.

* * *

Throughout the day Ching focused her attention on her work...or as much of it as she could. It had been close to a week since her grandmother and grandfather had left to visit with their old friends. She had tried to convince them to take her too, but her parents insisted she stay. Or at least, her mother had. Her father hadn't been present, but it was implied that he would have as well.

She kept an eye out for them as she fed the chickens. The five tiny hens ambled around her while the rooster ignored the food she tossed to the ground. For some reason it was more interested in pecking at her feet. Kicking it away, she tossed more food to try to distract it, but it continued to attack her toes. Even moving to a new spot didn't dissuade it. She didn't understand why it was picking on her.

Finally having enough of the bird's nipping, she made a break for it. She sprinted back towards the house as it trailed behind.

She made it to the house and slammed the door. It was unnecessary, since when she looked out the window she saw the rooster had gone back to the food.

She slumped onto a cushion to inspect her bare feet. A few tiny bleeding cuts, but they were enough to sting as she'd run across the dirt and grass.

Only a few moments after she entered, she heard the wailing from her parent's room that signified that Enlai was awake. Sure enough, Ching's mother soon entered holding her infant brother as he cried at the top of his lungs.

Ching winced at the noise as she looked up to her mother. She was wincing herself, but not only because the sound was right next to her ear. She held the baby close to her, trying to be comforting while her face showed no comfort at all. She looked worn, her graying hair was about as messy as her daughters - though she'd had time to put hers up in a modest bun. The glare she gave her eldest was more out of exasperation than anger.

"Ching Lan, did you have to slam that?" she asked as she came further into the room.

"I'm sorry, Mother." Her apology barely registered over Enlai's cries. Her mother stroked his head.

"Your father and grandparents will arrive any minute, and I still need to finish mending before I start dinner..." Ching listened as she went on. She wasn't complaining, Ching knew, she was listing. She wanted to make sure Ching knew how long her list was, all the things that needed to be done in a house. So that when one day she finally married she'd know what she'd be in store for. A long list.

Taking in the sheer state her mother was in - they way she had been all of Ching's life - she found it hard to understand why she should get married one day.

"Since you're the one who woke him, I'm sure you won't mind taking him for a while." she said sardonically, handing Ching her brother. Ching stood to take him, her feet still paining her. Enlai did not falter in his screaming as he changed hands, and Ching began stroking his head as she held him close as her mother had been doing.

Once her arms were free of her son, Ching's mother apparently noticed Ching's feet. "What happened?" she asked. Ching sat herself back down easily, balancing Enlai on her bended legs.

Ching looked back down at her feet too. The bleeding had stopped, but the dries blood and the dirt from the yard make them look much worse than they were.

"The new rooster," she said as plainly as she could. He mother nodded, understanding.

"Ah, yes. I don't know why he has it in for you. Try to get your feet washed, please." She changed topics quicker than her expression. Now that she knew what had happened, she seemed less concerned. Ching assumed she was merely too busy, and expected her to be able to take care of it.

Ching could take care of herself, she knew. But as her mother left the room to tend to other things, she couldn't repress the childlike disappointment that her mother hadn't taken any more notice.

She now turned her attention to her small brother wriggling in her raised lap. Ching clasped his hands in both of hers. The tiny fingers curled around her thumbs and his crying halted enough for him to be able to look at her.

She gave a small smile at his confused look. He then looked at one of her hands still holding his. Enlai then began to move his feet in an attempt to straighten himself. Ching obliged by lowering her knees so he could have somewhere to try and stand.

Using his sister's hands to pull himself up, the little one slowly moved into a standing position. Ching's face widened in exaggerated surprise as Enlai's eyes and smile slowly grew. For a brief moment he stood with his feet flat, he even stomped his feet a few times to show off his accomplishment, but that had apparently been too much. He slipped and fell back against her legs, letting out a fresh new cry.

Ching scooped him up and stood herself, shaking her head.

"You don't have to cry you know, you'll get it," she said to him. It might have sounded kinder if she hadn't had to say it over his wailing voice. She brought him close again and patted his back. She knew his age still only measured in months, but she didn't think any baby _anywhere_ cried as much as he did.

He did have his good points as well. She'd had to watch him plenty of times, and each time he surprised her. He was always very determined to accomplish something, even if it was still beyond his abilities. She laughed every time his big eyes held such focus on his task. It had gotten him far when he was learning to crawl. Although he did tend to pout when he didn't get it right away. He'd been struggling to stand almost since he'd mastered crawling.

She still had more chores to do inside, but Ching felt that it may benefit both of them to be outside for a while. Enlai might get another urge to try and stand, especially if he was surrounded by animals and the leaves and grass to watch move about in the wind. Plus Ching still held out hope that her grandparents would arrive soon. For some reason, the house was different when they weren't home. It seemed tenser, and a tad lonelier.

Like the other families she knew, Ching's grandparents were the most honored in the family. It wasn't difficult to respect them. Their very demeanor - even without all the titles given to them both over the years - felt honorable to her. It was only lately that things were any different from the way they had been.

The family Li had been slowly changing for a while now. Ching assumed it was foolish to think that it wouldn't. She was getting older, growing up. Her parents and grandparents were as well. It was when her father had retired from the military that things felt like they were beginning to break away. He'd been in a military family, it made sense. It was more than just his duty, it was his whole life. Everyone could understand why he wasn't the same afterward. Continuing his old work as a merchant had to feel unfulfilling, like a step down. Ching wouldn't have known, he barely spoke anymore.

He hadn't been much for words before, but now he seemed even more distant. Ching knew that everyone else noticed, and it bothered her that no one wanted to say anything.

She set Enlai down in a large grassy area near one of their still-young trees. His eyes alight with curiosity as he made his way to a bug perched on a flower. She was alert to make sure that he didn't catch the bug, since it would most likely end up in his mouth if he did.

* * *

A few more hours went by and it began to get darker. Ching assumed she'd given Enlai enough time to play and her mother enough to prepare for everyone's return, so she picked up her reluctant but clearly sleepy brother and went back inside the house.

She didn't stop to see what her mother was doing, she wanted to get Enlai to bed so she could quickly sweep the rooms and a few more of her chores before she noticed.

She successfully finished the sweeping by the time the sun was completely down. It was around that time when she finally heard something outside that could've signified her grandparents' had arrived.

Ching lit a lantern and carried it outside. At first she didn't see anything, but after a moment she spotted them slowly coming up the road and out of the shadows. It looked like her grandfather had extinguished his own lantern when he saw hers.

As they came closer, Ching couldn't wait for them to make it all the way to the house. She practically sprinted up to them.

Her grandmother was riding on Palin, while her grandfather walked alongside. They didn't seem to have much to carry, but Ching thought that as long as she was greeting them, she may as well be of some help.

"Welcome home!" she said with more energy than she'd had all day. More than they seemed to have as well. The smiles that they gave her didn't hide their exhaustion at all.

She reached out for the bag her grandfather was carrying, and he handed it to her.

"I think it would be an understatement to say that it's good to be home," he said. "I doubt we'll be venturing so far for a while."

"But we will again, of course," came the voice of her grandmother from astride the horse. "It's much better to receive news about our friends in-person." Ching got the feeling that this was the continuation of something they had been talking about on their way here.

"Thank you for letting us use your horse, Ching Lan." her grandmother added to her.

"Palin's not my horse. He belongs to the family." It was Ching's automatic response. She did it more to remind herself. She did spend the most time with him.

"Try telling him that," her grandfather said, jerking his thumb at the brown horse beside him. "He's barely listened to me the whole trip."

Not much else was said as they walked the rest of the way to their home. Ching knew she shouldn't press them unless they were willing to tell her anything. So she helped her grandmother down and lead them inside. Once her mother had come into the main room to greet them she went back out to put Palin away.

* * *

After making sure he was settled in his pen, Ching went quickly back to the house. She wanted to know how their trip had been. Maybe hear how her cousins and other relatives were.

Her mother was setting the table for everyone when she came inside. Someone had lighten the lamps and her grandparents were seated at their usual spots. Her grandmother sipped tea as her mother continued to flit in and out, asking a few questions and informing them about the goings-on while they were gone.

They had plenty to share as well. It may not have been all interesting, but it certainly was more so than What Ching and her mother had to tell them.

Once Ching's mother finally sat down at the table with them, the conversation turned to how everyone in the family was doing. Ching couldn't always keep it straight which aunt and uncle had which of her cousins - she only remembered her great-aunts' and uncles' names because they were who her grandparents had gone to see - but she at least pretended to follow it.

Her grandmother wasn't talking as exuberantly as Ching thought she should be. True, she'd just come back from a trip that had probably taken its toll on her, but she had had a little while to rest. It was also how her grandfather acted that made her notice. He seemed to be watching her as closer than Ching was. Was there something wrong that wasn't being shared?

Ching seized her chance to ask in a lull between all the talking. "Grandma, are you alright?" She hoped she was being polite enough, that was another thing she needed to watch herself on lately.

Her grandmother looked over at her. The reassuring smile she gave didn't convince her very much, she was still concerned.

"I'm fine, I just have a headache." The look she then gave to her husband was one of reassurance as well. Ching was apparently not the only one she was trying to convince.

"So, Miki is getting married?" Ching's mother asked, trying to get the topic back on track.

"Yes," Ching's grandfather answering before his wife could.

"Well, that's the last of your cousins then, Ching Lan."

Her mother was never very subtle at these types of hints. Yes, she understood, she was the only unmarried girl in the family now. She was older then most of her cousins, and she still did not have a husband.

After some great debate her parents had decided against arranging her a match. This was mostly due to the special circumstances of their family. Both of her grandparents did not believe in that particular custom.

So for two years, Ching had been allowed to continue to live at home in the hopes that she might find someone suitable for herself. She often wondered - as she came closer to becoming twenty - if they would go back on their word.

* * *

_Author's Note: Anybody still watching out for this story? I am really sorry if anyone has been waiting, Honestly, I was thoroughly stuck for a while. There's a scene after this that I wanted to put in, but every time I tried I just…couldn't…bring myself to. I am taking it as a sign that it doesn't need to be there, and am uploading the chapter as-is. I really hope that it was worth the wait._


	3. Mushu's return

It was taking a whole lot longer for them to show up than Mushu thought

It was taking a whole lot longer for them to show up than Mushu thought. He figured that if that Grandma Fa lady said to wait for them, that they'd be coming within the next few hours. He was not expecting to have to wait a few _days_.

As determined as he was not to miss anything else, he still found himself drifting back into the familiar pull of a dreamless sleep. It wasn't quite what it felt like when he was frozen in place. Those sleeps were often filled with flashes of memory that he could never quite control or decipher. He was always aware of his surroundings in those times as well, but he always lost his sense of time. That was one of the reasons he didn't much like the frozen state.

He wasn't even bothered to put himself in a fierce – or even standing – position. Once the tiredness had crept up on him, he simply curled up on his pedestal. He might not see Shang and his son approaching immediately, but he was sure that they would wake him when they did come in.

When he woke up he found his head was hanging off the edge of the pedestal, and that someone was moving below him.

He rolled over and wiped the drool from his face. Surprisingly the two men hadn't seen him. He peeked down at them, still waking himself up.

At first, Mushu had no idea who these two were. These guys couldn't be who Grandma Fa meant, they were old! Well, one of them was younger, possibly middle-aged. Neither of them appeared withered in their ages, though. They both looked fit, though their faces were worn.

When they both knelt and lifted their faces he could see them clearer. Though they were both similar, he preferred the older one's at this moment. He didn't think he'd want to cross either of them, but the elder of them just had a kinder look about him. He seemed sadder too.

It took him a moment to finally place him, but he'd know that boxy chin anywhere, this _was _Shang. Older and grayer, but most certainly him! His hair was almost completely gray, and he had lines around his eyes and mouth, some of them might even have been scars

His son somehow had an even squarer chin than Shang did, and some gray was only just beginning to show itself in his hair.

He thought that he'd be excited to see the ol' pretty boy again, but seeing him the way he was – and seeing how old that little baby of theirs was now – was really starting to hammer-in just how long he'd been out.

A thought then occurred to him, _what if Mulan was like this too?_

But then he remembered that this whole thing he was going to do was for her. He did want to see her again, but he couldn't let his friend check out before she was supposed to.

In his attempt to jump down from his pedestal, he seemed to have undershot the space between the floor in front of them and the closest tombstone. His legs made contact with its edge and caused him to land on the floor with his face.

When he pulled himself up Mushu saw that the two men were now looking down at him with matching surprise and confusion.

"Hey Shang," he greeted Shang with the best smile he could manage after such a spill.

When Shang held his expression without saying anything, Mushu thought he'd break the silence.

"Yeah, I know…long time no see, huh?"

This seemed to bring Shang back around. "Mushu? What are you doing here?" His voice sounded about as worn as his face, but he also seemed to be getting over the shock of seeing the dragon he'd only met a few times before.

"Well, I've always been here." Mushu explained and gestured up to his pedestal.

Shang shook his head. "No, I mean, why are you…awake?"

Shang's son had gotten over the shock slower than Shang had. He now looked from Mushu to his father, clearly trying to understand what was in front of him.

"Wait, Father, what is this?" His voice was deeper than his father's, and the tone he used held slight skepticism. Did he not believe Mushu was there?

"This is Mushu. He was the guardian who helped your mother when she joined the army, have you forgotten her stories? She pointed him out every time you'd come in here with her."

His son glanced at Shang as he spoke. "Yes but, I thought it was just a figure of speech! Or else a fantastical addition to personify her conscience or…something,"

"Wrong on all counts then, weren't you?" Mushu crossed his arms.

"Don't be mad at him, Mushu, he didn't know." Shang quickly said to him. "Now, why are you here?"

Mushu looked up at them, Shang staring at him with some concern but still a bit of surprise, and his son still looking wary. He even hung back a bit from his father. He actually wasn't too sure how to start. After a moment he settled on just outright speaking the truth.

"I'm supposed to help Mulan."

* * *

Since that was not entirely enough to inform them, Mushu began to explain the task that Grandma Fa had given him. He left out the part about this being important to the continuation of the families. That might cause them to put a whole lot more unneeded pressure on him and whoever this granddaughter kid was.

After a few interruptions by both Shang and his son – whom he introduced as Deshung – Shang finally led Mushu out of the temple towards the house to see Mulan. If it were a different time he might have perched himself on Shang's shoulder, but Mushu figured he might not appreciate it. He knew that Shang had no problem with him; it just might make them both a little uncomfortable considering the mood.

They were still living in the same house, though it had differences of its own. The moon gate separating the garden and temple from the house had many more cracks than it used to, and a new horse had taken Khan's place in the old pen.

He didn't remember much about the interior of the house before, but he was certain that is was different as well. It certainly felt that way. It seemed more somber, but it might just have been reflective of Shang's and his son's dispositions.

As they went down the small hallway Mushu caught a glimpse of someone moving in the room they passed, and then sooner than he could have prepared himself, there she was.

This was the same room she'd slept in before, the same one they were in when Mushu learned of Mulan's engagement. He had voiced his thoughts on how time had flown back then, he thought about that when he saw the figure sleeping in the bed.

If she had been well, Mushu thought he probably could have recognized her right off the bat. She seemed to have aged gracefully, with only a few major lines on her face and much darker gray hair than her husband. It was the pale and overall ill look about her that made her seem like an old lady.

He couldn't think of her that way for long though, "Old lady" and "Mulan" just didn't belong in the same sentence to Mushu.

It had taken him a moment to realize that the two men had gone past him and were now seated close beside her, leaving Mushu alone on the other side of the room.

A lamp flickered slightly behind them as Mushu slowly crossed the floor to them. He didn't exactly enjoy the tenseness and increasing unease as he approached. Tense situations like this usually needed someone to lighten them, to ease the mind and heart even an infinitesimal amount.

Mushu knew that he was usually the one expected to do that for everyone, but for some reason nothing was coming to him. This was different.

He sat himself down on the side of the bed, close to the hand that Shang had placed on Mulan's shoulder. She stirred but didn't wake. Even in the low light he could see traces of sweat on her forehead. When looked back to Shang, all he could think to say was a blatantly obvious question.

"What exactly happened?" he asked, trying not to sound too blunt with his question.

All three pairs of eyes wandered back to Mulan's sleeping figure for a short time before Shang answered.

"It was gradual. She'd been having headaches all through our visit to the Imperial city. At first she just ignored them, but once we got home things got worse fast. She started feeling dizzy and her fever came."

Shadows continued to move across the walls in time with the flame from the lamp, then Mushu saw something else move, and then pause at the edge of the circle of light.

_So this must be the granddaughter_, Mushu thought.

In the half-light her features almost perfectly resembled that of her grandmother as Mushu remembered her, so that for a second it looked as if the Mulan from the past was gazing in on her future self.

It was only for a second though, as the girl had paused, when she came into the light Mushu could see the differences. Her face was rounder for one thing, and she had a slightly wider frame

She was older than he'd expected, and he didn't much like the look she was giving him. It reminded him of how her apparent-father had looked when he'd seen him the first time.

"Ah Ching, there you are," Mushu heard Shang address the girl from behind him. Mushu watched her face dart up to her grandfather, blinking. "Did you sleep well?"

"Y…yes, thank you Grandfather. Um, how is she today?" Ching asked, looking at Shang but still surprised by Mushu's presence. He seemed to be having that affect on people today.

"Not much has changed, I'm afraid." He answered her.

Another silence came over them, and was only broken when the girl finally seemed to decide to ask the question that both her father and grandfather had not seemed to read from her constant looking back to Mushu.

"Um, why is there some sort of creature sitting on Grandmother's bed?"

* * *

_Author's Note: I really want to thank you guys for being so patient. I recently got a new job and have been working very crazy hours, and I've been worrying almost non-stop about this story. Wondering and worrying about how it will be perceived All I can really do is hope someone lies it, even if it's kind of slow right now. Also I realize that I can't please everyone, and I should just right it the way I want to._

_Hope everyone's had a great summer, and hope that we don't have too long a wait this time. ___


	4. Onward

It seemed the art of tact was lost on these newer generations. Although 'creature' was only a step above 'lizard' on the insult scale.

Mushu didn't have long to think on them, because the bed rustled slightly beneath him. His unspoken question was answered with Shang's own inquiry.

"Mulan?"

Her eyes were open, and she was gingerly moving herself in an attempt to sit up. Shang quickly foiled her attempt by easing her back down.

"You shouldn't move too much. You need to save your strength."

She gave him an appreciative but resistant smile. "I have strength enough. Honestly Shang, since I've started feeling ill you've treated me as if I were so breakable."

"If you could only see yourself, or even _hear_ yourself." Shang said with his own small smile. He conceded by helping her ease up to sit.

Mushu agreed with Shang, she didn't seem to be aware of how frail she appeared. He supposed she acted that way so they wouldn't worry, _still putting others before herself_.

"Grandmother, do you kn-"Ching began uneasily, but Mulan's eyes had found him before she had finished asking.

"Mushu?"

She was almost squinting, and it occurred to Mushu that she may not be able to see as well as she once had. He came closer to her face, close enough to bring nearly every one of those new and unfamiliar lines of hers into view.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as her face relaxed. Although the question was the same, the deliverance of it was different than Shang's. She asked with a soft ring of laughter amid the surprise, as if he'd popped up somewhere unexpected while her mind had been occupied by something else.

She managed to bring him into a small one-armed hug, it was surprisingly tight. "It's good to see you," she added as she let him go.

He smiled up at her. It was easier to see that this was really her…that time hadn't changed much beyond the physical. "Good to see you too," he answered.

His greeting sounded a little thicker than he'd meant it to, more emotional. He gave a few coughs to try and rid himself of that. When he spoke again he tried to sound lighter. "You didn't expect me to be gone forever, did you?"

She gave a small shake of her head, a few more lines crinkling around her tired eyes as she continued to smile at him. "I've missed you though."

Mushu half expected her to ask then, why it had been so long since he was last around, since she'd been able to talk to him like this. He didn't want to have to answer that, because the truth was that he still didn't know..

Shang spoke again, cutting short the tiny reunion. "Apparently he's been sent here to help retrieve the medicine from Qin Xa."

"But Grandfather," the granddaughter Ching made herself heard. Mushu had almost forgotten she was there. "I thought we agreed that _I _should go. The journey wouldn't be hard on me, and I could get there and back quicker than Father or Mother." It might have been his imagination, but Mushu thought he heard a little whine in her voice.

"Yes we did, and you will do that for us." Shang answered her.

"I'm still not certain about that anyway," Deshung mumbled to his father, more audible than he probably wanted.

"Wait, what do you mean "he's here to help?" Ching asked hesitantly.

"Mushu is here to go with you."

-------------------

As Mushu lifted his head off of the hard wooden floor just outside of Mulan's and Shang's room, he took a moment to appreciate that the kind of sleep that only lasts a few hours. He could tell it had only been a few hours because the rest of the occupants of the room were still inside. The arguing had gotten much softer, so at least there was that.

He also knew that they were all still in there because if one of them had left, he knew he might be trodden on.

What did the granddaughter have against him? She was being pretty adamant that she could go and collect the cure all by herself. No matter how many times Shang told her that Mushu was supposed to help and guard her (as was the term, 'guardian'), she just kept bleating that she didn't need help.

Of course, Deshung wasn't all for her going at all, and he made sure to make that known.

Mushu eventually had to leave the room. It wasn't like they were asking his opinion anyway. He was letting Shang do the pitching to his son about him only because Deshung didn't seem to acknowledge Mushu as a sentient being, and apparently the granddaughter didn't think much of him either.

What was up with this family? Mushu had a feeling Mulan falling ill like this might have thrown an already slightly-unstable balance out of whack.

Things finally settled down and the family exited towards their respective rooms. Mushu didn't ask what the end result had been. They were all tired and he would find out sooner or later.

Curling up on a cushy chair near Mulan's and Shang's bed, he drifted off for a few more hours of the more natural kind of sleep.

The end-result of the dispute was that things would go as planned, for the most part. Ching and Mushu would travel to the town of Qin Xa; collect some sort of special herb that Mushu didn't catch the name of, and then travel back home. How quick the journey was would be up to them, but Shang assured Mushu that it shouldn't be more than a few days, a week tops.

Mushu then observed the family on this new day as they prepared for his and Ching's departure.

He couldn't help noticing the lack of contact the younger members had with each other.

The daughter-in-law – Yun – flitted about from room to room and person to person; making sure everyone was comfortable but not stopping to talk. Deshung hadn't seemed very engaging towards anyone in the few minutes Mushu saw before he had headed out for work. The granddaughter – Ching – he hadn't seen. She was presumably in her room preparing and possibly sulking. She seemed the type to do that. Or possibly working on some of the things her mother was unable to get to somehow with all her running about…and sulking.

However disconnected those three seemed to each other, Mushu was glad to see that they treated Mulan and Shang so well. It was always important that the grandparents in a family were respected and taken care of, even when they weren't sick. That would have been something that Mushu couldn't have handled, especially as these grandparents were his pals.

It was that respect and love for them that was prompting them to get everything ready so fast. In only about an hour or so Yun had managed to get most of the food and other supplies they would need into one bag that Ching would carry. She didn't say much to Mushu, but she didn't specifically avoid looking in his direction the way her husband had been. Mushu merely chalked it up to not knowing what to say to a dragon, and plain not having time.

Mushu now sat back in the room with Shang and Mulan. She looked slightly worse today, she'd only woken up for a little while that morning before drifting back to sleep again.

Wanting to get his mind off her condition, and what sort of state it would be in by the time they got back, Mushu thought he'd ask Shang to fill him in some more on that sizeable block of their lives he had missed.

"Everything's just so different," he stated, finally voicing what he had been thinking over and over despite his acceptance of the fact.

"That happens after forty years," Shang said.

"They're certainly different," he said, meaning Deshung and his family. Shang seemed to understand.

"They're not so bad, they've just… had difficulties."

Well that was certainly vague enough. "What kind of difficulties?"

Shang looked over to him as he sized up the question. "…It's a long story. Perhaps Ching Lan can tell you while you're traveling."

Mushu thought he understood Shang there. Perhaps he didn't want to start a long story while they were waiting for his granddaughter. Hopefully the girl would show up soon, Mushu was beginning to wonder whether she'd gone on without him.

It was a few more hours before she arrived back at the doorway – long enough that Mushu thought Shang could've had time for three long stories.

"I think I'm ready, Grandfather," Ching said confidently. Shang remained in his seat but nodded.

_Finally,_ Mushu couldn't help but think as he hopped off the bed to join her. She had already turned to leave, and he now had to follow her.

"Hey," he said, trying to get her attention as he attempted to keep up with her brisk walk to the front door. "Weren't you gonna say good bye to Sha- uh.., your grandfather?"

"I already gave them both my goodbyes earlier," she answered as they exited the house. She didn't look at him, and she sounded like she found his question too obvious to answer.

The way she was acting it was almost like _he_ was the one holding _her_ up, when she'd been off doing whatever all day and Mushu had to watch Mulan getting worse.

He was still following her as she headed for a pen when he felt something catch on his tail. It didn't hurt as it clung near the tip of his tail. It was a little while of shaking without it coming off that he finally stopped to inspect it.

Holding on with all six legs, his little eyes rolling dizzily, Cri Kee XXIV gave an awkward little chirp in greeting.

"And what are you doing here?" he asked the cricket once his eyes had focused on Mushu.

Cri Kee XXIV let go of Mushu's tail and landed on the ground, giving his explanation as he went.

"Well sure, I had a lucky cricket with me last time I ventured out, but that doesn't mean you have to come."

He then chirruped a little more determinedly, pointing to himself and then to Mushu.

"Alright, I could see how you think going with me would honor your ancestor, but you really think you're ready for something like this? You probably never even left this garden."

Cri Kee XXIV chirped sadly, and looked up at him with big, round, pleading eyes.

Mushu rolled his own eyes. "Fine, but I will not be held accountable if you get squashed… and no more riding on my tail."

Cri Kee XXIV jumped with joy but Mushu grabbed him midway through and continued following Ching. Once they got to the pen she had already brought out a very large brown horse.

Mushu slowed to a cautious walk as he approached the animal. He didn't do so well with horses, thinking back to Mulan's Khan.

"So we are riding to that other town, huh?" He asked, making his way to the back of the horse were he would need to climb up.

"If you're coming than yes." She answered, still with that tone like she wanted to get going as soon as possible.

Mushu would have said something, but he remembered that this was actually what he wanted, so he got up behind Ching as she gave the horse a quick jib to start walking. Might as well not look a gift horse in the mouth, even one that was seeming so unfriendly.

He also thought it might be good not to look this actual horse in the mouth either, if he might be anything like Khan.

_Author's Note: Anybody remembers this story? Hopefully it hasn't been so long that you don't care anymore. Also gave my beta a break, so it's probably rattled with errors. Hopefully it won't take another six months to get the next chapter up._


	5. A Wonderful, Tolerance

"So… are we gonna talk at all on this trip?" Mushu asked while trying to lean around into Ching's peripheral vision.

They had been traveling for what had to be a few hours now. It had taken them longer to exit the small inhabited area than Mushu had remembered, but this was the first time Mushu had tried to converse with her since climbing onto the horse.

"Talking won't get us there any faster," Ching answered matter-of-factly, her eyes still straight ahead.

Pahlin's rhythmic trotting along the road was suddenly disrupted as Ching swerved him past a sizable pothole. The motion jostled Mushu, causing him to quickly sit back down next to Cri Kee XXIV near the back of Ching's saddle.

Mushu looked over at the little cricket, he was clinging pretty tightly – almost as tightly as he'd been holding to Mushu's tail – and his eyes were closed as if he were terrified he would fall off if he opened them

.Mushu waited a little while longer, watching the landscape pass him and go off into the distance as he was facing the opposite way they were going. He looked down at his feet and tapped his claws.

He then looked back in her direction, turning his head only slightly. "Do you have a problem with talking while you're riding or something?"

He didn't see the sideways glance she gave him, but he could kind of tell it was there. "No, I don't have a problem with that," she said, but in a way that insinuated that she did have a problem with something. Mushu also didn't need to think hard to know what it was.

"Look, I get it, I get that you and your dad don't like me. I get that, but don't you think that my being here might actually help in some way?"

When she didn't answer, he tried again.

"Come on, at least try and make the best of things. I mean, like it or not, I'm here."

"How?" Ching asked in an irritated way.

"How what?" Mushu said, now turning all the way to face her back.

"_How_ are you supposed to help me? I understand that you're a guardian, but what does that mean? Do you chase off harmful spirits… or people or something? You'd think with all the insisting that my grandfather did he'd tell me what you were supposed to do."

Mushu raised his eyebrows, wondering. "Huh, you know I didn't get that message either. I was just told to go, and make sure you got there and back in one piece. Are you wanting specifics? Because the ancestors don't exactly give too many of those out, they're pretty vague."

"Ah, so it's not just my parents and grandfather that don't trust me, even the family members who've passed on don't," she said sardonically.

Mushu thought this was a little unfair of her to say. "Maybe they wanted to make sure you didn't get kidnapped or robbed. Since right now you appear to be a young girl traveling unaccompanied through the countryside with really no means of defending herself."

He saw Ching's head lower for a second. "I'm not that young," she said quietly. "And is that really what the people we pass are seeing?"

Mushu nodded, and slowly tried leaning back into her peripherals again. "Yup, that's kinda a rule of the guardians'; nobody outside of the family I'm protecting can see me." Mushu blinked and then thought for a moment.

"No wait, maybe it's that they aren't _allowed _to see me, but could. It's hard to understand sometimes, they don't exactly give you a course on the rules when you join up, you have to learn as you go."

"_Fascinating_," Ching said. She seemed to have recovered from her moment of pondering to express that she hadn't been listening, and her tone was back to what it had been earlier.

Mushu noticed, and didn't think he could take any more of it. He quickly climbed around her and onto Pahlin's head, making Ching jerk the reigns and halt him abruptly.

This action made Mushu fly off the horse's head and knock into Ching, but once they'd stopped he clambered back up to look her straight in the eyes.

"Do you think you could drop the attitude?" he asked sternly as he watched her frown in frustration. "If I promise to be quiet until we stop for the night will you at least try and act more civil towards me?"

Ching looked away from him for a moment then nodded reluctantly.

"Good, cause believe it or not, I _do_ wanna help," he said as he swung back over to his seat.

"I believe that counts as more talking," she said as she jibbed Pahlin to start going again.

This at least _sounded_ like she was joking. Mushu was settling himself back down as she'd spoken, so he couldn't be sure. He chose to take it that way. This civil thing would have to be a two-way street.

A tiny whimpering chirp reminded him of his fellow backseat passenger, and he glanced over to see Cri Kee XXIV still hanging on for dear life.

"No, we're not there yet," he said. Poor little guy. He probably really _hadn't_ left the grounds before.

Cri Kee XXIV opened one eye the tiniest amount to look up at him, chirping a faint question.

"We'll probably make a stop soon, but we've got a ways to go." Mushu answered.

This caused the cricket to cling tighter and shut his eyes again, giving one more chirp, this time longer and full of regret.

"I'll say," Mushu agreed, turning his gaze from him to Ching's back. "It_ is_ gonna be a long trip."

* * *

His promise not to speak until they stopped for the night turned out to be much easier to keep than Mushu had initially thought. Mostly because of the fact that everyone else in the group seemed to be committed to not speaking for some reason or another.

They passed mostly what had to be farmland, and hadn't come upon another town yet, only a few small dwellings. When the sun finally set and it was time to look for a place to sleep though, there weren't even any of those around.

They made do with a large grassy field a small ways off from the dirt road. The night was cloudy, which did mean better cover in case of anyone coming by, but they didn't want to take chances being right by the road.

The clouds could also mean rain, but at least they were prepared for that. Apparently one of the things that had kept Ching up when Mushu was waiting for her had been collecting the thin cloth tent that her mother had mended for her.

Mushu decided to start a tiny fire, more for light than warmth. Cri Kee XXIV had only just leapt off of Pahlin when the horse specifically sat down to indicate that it was really time for him to get off.

Feeling for the cricket more and more, Mushu had let Cri Kee XXIV hold onto his tail once he had curled himself up beside his campfire.

Cri Kee XXIV fell asleep much quicker than he did. There were just too many little noises to distract him. Ching was in her tent doing who-knows-what, and Pahlin had been making those huffing, snorting horse sounds ever since he'd made Cri Kee XXIV get off of his back. He apparently had not appreciated Mushu hopping on his head earlier in the day.

"Are you still on that?" he asked the horse bewilderedly. He had already remembered that horses didn't like him, and now he was beginning to recall why he didn't much care for them. For one thing, they tend to hold a grudge for the most odd of things. Maybe it wasn't all horses, just the ones he'd known.

And it was the other horse Mushu had known that Pahlin brought up next. It seemed that Pahlin had been purchased very near the end of Kahn's life, and Kahn had told the young colt stories all about the brave things Mulan had done, and the part he had played in her adventures. In telling these stories, he did indeed mention Mushu, and the things he'd said were not all that flattering.

Pahlin said that he knew all about Mushu. Whether or not the word 'nuisance' was one that he or Kahn had used, it didn't really matter. He was affronted all the same.

"Hey, you've only got one side of the story. I was just trying to help Mulan; Kahn was the one who stomped me flat every chance he got."

The horse rolled his eyes and huffed again.

"What do you mean, 'I say'? You think I was just _imagining_ all those hoof-induced concussions?"

This was when Pahlin muttered something very offensive under his breath, which unfortunately Mushu understood.

His mouth hung open, he then leered at the horse that was now doing the closest thing to a smirk a horse could do.

"Ching, you better come get your horse!" He shouted, jumping to his feet and jostling poor Cri Kee XXIV awake.

Ching Lan crawled out of her tent, standing and rubbing her eyes sleepily. "What is all the noise out here? I _just_ fell asleep."

Once she had stood, Pahlin had turned from them and appeared to be sniffing the grass, his tail swishing lazily.

Ching looked from her horse over to Mushu. "What about him?"

"He insulted me!" Mushu continued, really close to irate at this point. "He was saying _terrible_ things about my mother, and I have no idea if they're true!"

Ching blinked a few times, possibly to wake up a little more and see more clearly. She looked back over at Pahlin, then back over to Mushu, looking very puzzled.

"My horse…was insulting you?" She asked slowly, taking another glance from one to the other.

"Yeah," he answered. As she continued to stare at him, he got the impression that she thought he was insane. "What? I can talk to animals. I talk to this guy all the time," he indicated the now cowering Cri Kee XXIV.

Ching looked down where he was gesturing, spotting the insect near Mushu's foot.

"What in the--?" she began, but stopped as she crouched down to get a better look. Cri Kee XXIV lifted one leg off from over one of his eyes and lifted his head ever so slightly to look at her.

"Oh right," Mushu remembered. "You didn't know he was with us. Ching Lan, Cri Kee XXIV. Cri Kee XXIV, you know Ching, right?" He then looked back up at Ching, his mind back on his insulted-ness. "Now can we please get back to the subject at hand?"

Ching however, did not pay attention to Mushu's attempt to bring the topic back around.

"Oh… he's kind of cute, in a way," she said, reaching out a hand close to where Cri Kee XXIV hid.

Cri Kee XXIV peeked out from behind the foot, sitting all the way up and looking cautiously at the hand. Ching coaxed him softly, much softer than Mushu had actually heard her speak before. If he hadn't been right there he never would have believed her capable of it.

"That's it, come on," she said as he came closer, almost like he was sniffing her fingertips. He finally gave a tiny, almost excited chirp and hopped into her hand. She slowly lifted him up as she stood again.

"No wonder you're so scared, with all the yelling that's going on out here." She then turned and began to get back into her tent. "You're just going to have to stay in here with me."

Mushu was at a loss for words. First the girl completely ignores the conflict he was having with Pahlin, now she was taking his only little companion?

"Hey!" he called after her; but she had already closed the flaps. She poked her head back out after a few seconds.

"What?" she whispered harshly.

"What are you gonna do about your horse?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head, in an almost-perfect imitation of what Pahlin had done. The only difference being the tiny bit of amusement mixed in with her exasperation.

"Go to sleep you crazy dragon."

The flaps then flew closed again, and Mushu was left out beside his little fire.

All that could be heard were the sounds of the flame and the contented chirping of Cri Kee XXIV from within the tent. Pahlin had apparently either gone off to sleep extremely quickly or was faking to continue the innocent-horse act he had played when Ching had appeared.

Mushu had no choice but to curl back up in his spot, since nobody thought he might like to sleep inside. Not that he _would_ if anyone did ask.

He gave a humph as he glanced once more at the tent flaps before laying his head down.

Now that the excess noises had ceased, t was easier for Mushu to clear his head. At least she had called him 'dragon'. It was good to know that he was back up to that instead of 'creature'.

* * *

Mushu woke up hours later feeling a damp chill. It had rained at some point in the night, and while it hadn't been enough to wake him, it had put out his miniscule flame. He squinted as he looked to the sky. The clouds were only just now beginning to dissipate, but the intense gray/white of the clouds hurt his still opening eyes just about as much as a bright and shining sun would have.

It seemed that he was not the first one up. He could hear movement in Ching's tent, and Pahlin was nowhere close, possibly grazing. Having the horse away from him was not a terrible thing though. He stood and stretched, thinking he might look around for Cri Kee XXIV. He would probably be in the tent still, being kept out of the rain, snug as a… well, a bug.

He grasped one of the tent flaps and wiped some of the condensation from his face. There hadn't been anything else he could see to dry himself with - although as his mind was still gearing up - he didn't look too hard.

Once his face and hands were dry he tried to shake the rest off, and by then Cri Kee XXIV had already snuck up on him, looking very well-rested and much more confident than he had been. He chirped a happy greeting and Mushu jumped and turned around.

"Yeah…morning, I guess you slept well, huh?"

Cri Kee XXIV nodded, asked a question politely.

"Oh, me? I slept fine; I think it might've rained last night though." The cricket didn't seem to catch Mushu's hint of sarcasm.

"So, you made a new friend huh, Cri Kee XXI—"Mushu paused, and then started again as he posed a question to his insect friend. "You think I can just call you 'Cri Kee-x'? It's just that 'Cri Kee XXIV' is kind of a mouthful."

He looked up at Mushu and shrugged, chirping that he didn't mind. He then chirped again inquisitively.

"Sure, I guess it could be like a nickname, if that makes you feel better about it." Mushu answered, and then continued with his earlier sentence. "So Cri Kee-x, you made friends with the girl awfully fast."

Cri Kee-x chirped that it hadn't really been his doing. She had been nice to him though, and he hoped that he could be lucky for her and Mushu on this trip, even if they still had a long way to go… and even if he was proving not to be as brave as he thought he could be.

It didn't really surprise Mushu that it took a while for Ching to finally emerge from the tent, setting the bag of food her mother had prepared down beside them. Not hearing anything out of her about it, he assumed he could help himself.

Cri Kee-x hopped away to find himself some breakfast, and Mushu watched Ching take down the tent as he ate.

She had put her hair up today, that might have been what had held her up this time. It didn't look all that neat, two large sections still hung down the back of her neck forking off to point in opposite directions.

With his promise to not talk - and to be nicer in-general to her - he hadn't mentioned that leaving her hair down had been slightly problematic for the passengers who had to sit behind her as she rode. At least now her hair wouldn't be flying in their faces anymore when they started trotting along.

With it up like that she looked much less like Mulan and more like what he had seen of Yun, and even somewhat like one of those princesses that Mulan's friends ended up marrying.

It didn't seem too complicated, but her mild struggle to get the cloth rolled back the way her mother had done it was pretty entertaining. She finally managed it and came back to her bag to begin having her own breakfast.

Mushu continued eating as she rummaged through the bag nonchalantly. She was obviously trying to pretend she had not had all that trouble with the tent, and he in turn was trying to pretend he hadn't been chuckling the whole time she had been unrolling and then _re_-rolling it.

* * *

_Author's Note: I don't really know what it is, but even though I am inspired with this story, I just don't think it's going that well. I'm fairly certain that it could be much better. But maybe I'm over-thinking things._

_Tried to make it a funny-ish chapter, and include some foreshadowing. Because to me, that's the best kind of shadowing. : - )_


	6. A step forward, a step back

"Ok, so it's green? Is it… that tree?" Mushu pointed towards a tree, following it with his hand as they passed it. Cri Kee-x shook his head.

"Alright," Mushu said as he scanned their surroundings for more things that were green. "How about… that tree?" He pointed to another tree they had just passed. Again, the cricket shook his head.

"Fine, I give up," Mushu lowered his hand and held it out to Cri Kee-x, gesturing for him to give the right answer.

Cri Kee-x gave it with an almost giddy little chirrup.

"What?" Mushu commented loudly, taken aback. "You can't do that; you can't pick something we've already passed! How'm I supposed to know it was a tree we passed ten minutes ago?"

Cri Kee-x shrugged and chirped that it wasn't his fault that Mushu took so long to guess.

"Yeah, well… maybe," He wanted to say something, even if Cri Kee-x had a point.

He had offered to play this spying game when they had resumed their trek along the road to Qin Xa. He thought it might keep the little guy distracted enough to make him forget about his combined fears of high places and moving faster than was normal for a cricket, both of which were what was causing his aversion to riding on Pahlin.

He was glad it was working so well, almost too well. He was beating Mushu at it… by a lot.

"From now on, can we please try and keep it limited to things that can be seen for longer than a brisk ride past?"

Cri Kee-x chirped his assent, and a new round started, this time with Mushu selecting an item to 'spy'.

Sticking to his own rule to show Cri Kee-x how it was done, he looked around for things in the distance, larger things that could be seen for miles. The mountains were pretty massive, and there was always the sky. The sky would be too easy, the clouds had disappeared for the most part, only smaller white ones remained. The sky was now closer to its normal blue, and there weren't very many things around that were blue… besides his own horns.

"Why don't you two give the game a break?" Ching asked, not looking over her shoulder.

"Not until I win," Mushu stated. They had been playing for most of the day's journey, and while it was probably getting on Ching's nerves, Mushu's competitiveness was currently trumping his want to be nicer to her.

"If you play it that way you'll be doing it the whole way there."

Her comments were sounding less derisive, though this one did have the addition of her growing impatience.

"Hey, it's harder than it sounds," Mushu said as he did his lean again to make sure she saw him. "I'd like to see you try it."

"Ok," she answered, suddenly leaving her irritation behind and adopting a more pleasant yet formal tone. "One more try. I guess it, and you take a break, deal?"

"Fine with me," Mushu answered. He was fairly certain it would be much easier playing against Ching, since she had to keep her eyes on the road in front of her. "It's something… black."

"Pahlin's tail," She answered without a beat, sounding almost bored, as if it were too easy. "Now, will you _please_ stop?"

Mushu looked away and jerked his fist indignantly. _Darn it, how could she have known?_

"You can still talk," she informed him. She was trying to accommodate them, but Mushu didn't think it was that much of a consolation. Still, he guessed it wasn't worth sulking over.

Well, not for a terribly long time.

* * *

Mushu and Cri Kee-x may have been taking a break from their traveling chatter, but one member of the group that Ching hadn't counted on was Pahlin.

He took advantage of the quiet ride (and the fact that Ching could not understand him) to grumble a few more complaints about having Mushu along. These were at least cleaner than the comments of the previous evening, but aspersions on his intelligence, his loud manner, and his personal hygiene were easily understood by Mushu.

This was when Mushu commented on the size of Pahlin's belly, and asked Ching loudly if it was safe for a pregnant horse to be traveling such a distance.

This completely confused Ching, and even more so when Pahlin suddenly gave a powerful buck with his back legs. She held on tight, but both Mushu and Cri Kee-x were successfully flung off onto the dirt road below.

* * *

They finally took a break from traveling when the sun went down that night. Mushu wanted to keep going, if they kept making stops then they'd never get there. He was out-voted, however.

It was indeed safer to travel with the light of day, but they had to have been just a few miles from somewhere they could stay that had a roof. But it had been a long and mostly monotonous day, and the others were more than ready for a break.

At least the sky had cleared up. The clouds from the night before were completely gone, so hopefully that meant a night without any unexpected showers.

After depositing her things, Ching walked off with Pahlin in-tow for some odd reason. Mushu had been busy lighting another tiny fire for this new campsite, but Cri Kee-x informed him that she'd said she wouldn't be too far, and would be back after a little while.

So, now Mushu was yet again waiting for her to return. She seemed to do that a lot – go off on her own and take an exceptionally long time coming back. What this some sort of pattern beginning to form?

Still, the last few times he at least had some idea where she was, Mushu wasn't so sure about her being away when he didn't even know for certain where they were. What Cri Kee-x had relayed was pretty vague, but since she had taken Pahlin along he assumed it must have involved him. Maybe she'd taken him off to find some source of water.

_Of course, anything for the horse, _he thought. But then again…he was their ride.

Strangely enough, it actually made Mushu feel a bit better knowing that Pahlin was with her. However much that horse detested him, and however much he reciprocated this dislike, he would feel a lot guiltier if the girl had been off completely on her own.

He flopped down next to his little fire. He seemed to be a lot wearier than he thought. He closed his eyes but kept his ears perked in the direction they had left. If he listened very hard he thought he could hear Pahlin do that irritating snort of his. When he strained but couldn't hear anymore he opened his eyes and pushed himself up to sit beside the fire. He didn't think he should risk falling asleep yet.

He watched the fire as it danced in place, casting its little flickering shadows over him and everything he could see. Not that there was much, just Ching's pile off things that lay a few feet away. As he searched for anything else to look at, he noticed that he didn't see Cri Kee-x anywhere within the circle of light. He had probably followed Ching and Pahlin, or else gone off to find some grass that wasn't taller than he was to snack on.

So he was alone again. This was looking like a pattern as well. Somehow he hadn't thought it would be like this once he'd woken up again. Well, there were a number of things that he hadn't thought would be that now were.

His eyes grew tired of watching the flames, and he leaned backward with his hands on the ground to prop him up. He lifted his head and focused on the sky. As his eyes adjusted, the stars seemed to appear before him as if through a haze. Not too many because of his proximity to the light of the fire, but a few tiny white dots, twinkling in a completely opposite sequence from the flickering of the flames.

For the first time since he had asked Shang to fill him in, Mushu began to ponder once again about just how much time had passed, how much he had missed.

It seemed like he hadn't merely slept through little Deshung growing up, there had to be something – or even some things – that Shang hadn't wanted to mention then. He'd said to ask Ching, but though he had been more polite to her – and she seemed to be to him – he still doubted that she would share anything pertaining to her family just yet. She'd hardly said anything about _herself_, much less anyone else.

A small rustling sound caused his mind to sink back to earth; his ears swiveled towards the noise before his eyes could follow. The sound had come from the left side of the firelight, near Ching's belongings. He narrowed his eyes to peer across the little clearing at the bag. He watched it for a few minutes uneventfully, until he heard the sound again and with it a small mound moved under the cloth. It continued until it found an opening to reveal Cri Kee-x.

Mushu blinked then cocked his head. He watched as his friend buried himself once again within the fabric of the bag, scurry about, and then pop back up looking frustrated. He then came up to the side of the bag and began pushing as hard as his four front legs could manage, with almost no result.

Mushu then couldn't take watching any more, this was almost as bad as Ching rolling up that darn tent. "Do you need some help with something?"

Cri Kee-x's eyes landed on Mushu, and he plucked at the cloth lamely, chirping that he wanted to get the tent out.

Mushu was beside Cri Kee-x and the pile before he had finished chirruping. "What wouldja want to do that for?" he asked.

The cricket began to tug on the cloth, straining but managing to chirp that he just wanted to help his new friend Ching by putting up her tent for her.

Mushu caught himself before he laughed at his friend. It was a thoughtful gesture, but seeing the poor tiny thing struggling with such persistence to do something that was so much bigger than him was just a little bit funny.

It was when he was going to suggest that Cri Kee-x should probably just wait for Ching to return and _assist_ her somehow with the tent that Mushu had a thought. This was indeed something nice that Cri Kee-x wanted to do for Ching. Something that could probably warrant some sort of repayment on her part, if she was a fair person. And lately she did seem to be a little more so.

He repeated his offer of help, this time with much more sincerity than skeptical questioning. Cri Kee-x accepted Mushu's help gladly. The cricket was absolutely delighted by his offer and they began to pull out the items they would need.

They began to work, finding the places for the posts, stringing up the rope to the posts, and hammering in the stakes to keep the cloth part down. Most of this was done by Mushu, but he didn't really mind. Cri Kee-x got one good swing in with the wooden hammer before losing his balance and dropping it, where it was caught by Mushu. He did do a good job hopping to the top of the poles and he made a fair weight to hold the sides down until Mushu could hammer them in.

They had soon accomplished their goal even faster than they had thought it would take (and certainly faster than poor Cri Kee-x could accomplish by himself).

Cri Kee-x beamed up at the constructed tent, so pleased with himself. Mushu was pleased too. Now Cri Kee-x was happy, and Mushu would probably get his chance to ask Ching about the things Shang had only alluded to.

It was only fair; a kind gesture such as this required one in return. Of course Mushu wouldn't take all the credit; it had been Cri Kee-x's idea, but Ching already liked him. It would be much easier for him to receive some sort of favor from her, if the little guy ever actually decided to ask for anything.

* * *

Once it was finally up, Cri Kee-x couldn't wait for Ching to return and see the tent. But wait they had to, for Ching still had not returned yet with Pahlin. Mushu's small fire had already burned down to the embers, and as he re-lit it he heard Cri Kee-x ponder what was keeping them.

Mushu didn't know either, but he was beginning to feel the tiniest twinge of dread in the pit of his stomach. Maybe he was just being impatient, but he didn't think whatever it was that they were doing would take this long.

Instructing Cri Kee-x to stay at the camp, Mushu decided he should go ahead and find their two missing companions. They were probably just a little ways off, nothing to get worried about, but this type of thinking did nothing to ease that twinge of Mushu's.

The grass was quite tall, much taller than Mushu, so actually spotting them would prove to be quite difficult. One good thing about the grass being so tall though, Pahlin had made a pathway through it as he and Ching had walked. All Mushu would have to do is follow this path of bent grass to its end. Good to know that the horse was good for something other than riding.

His unease did begin to ebb when he reached the end of the path in only a short time. The grass thinned away into a bank, and at the bank of what was either a large pond or a small lake stood Pahlin.

The horse had his rear end facing him, and Mushu couldn't help but prefer this end. His tail swished as he grazed on the much shorter grass surrounding the water, completely unaware of Mushu's presence.

His relief was short lived, for at the very second when he saw Pahlin and began scanning the area for Ching, she appeared – dripping wet – from the water. She then made her way over to Pahlin without noticing Mushu… and with nothing to cover herself but her long hair that clung to her back.

An alarm went off in his brain the second he saw her and he reacted without thinking, quickly slamming his ears down over his eyes and whipping around to face the other direction. A shocked and discomfited "whoa!" escaped him as he turned – which of course she heard.

"HEY!" he heard her shout. He couldn't see her, since he was facing the other way… and had also placed his hands over his eyes that were already covered by his ears, but she did not sound happy. "What are you doing!?"

"Sorry, sorry! It's just that you--- and you still hadn't come back--- and I didn't see anything!"

"That's a lie," he could hear the scoff in Ching's voice. "You can look now."

"Are you sure?" Mushu asked loudly, still addressing her with his back to her and Pahlin.

When she didn't answer Mushu turned around slowly. He was almost afraid to uncover his eyes. But he lowered his hands and gingerly lifted one ear to see. She did indeed have her towel wrapped around her, so he lifted both ears off.

"You still don't seem to be grasping this whole guardian thing very well. I'm sorry I don't have more to tell you about why or how, but---"

"I know, I know, you're here for a reason and even you don't know," she said, cutting him off before he could repeat himself.

"Something like that, yeah," he said, now noticing Pahlin's expression, which currently gave the impression that – had Ching not been in the way – Mushu would have endured quite the flattening from him.

"I told you two where I was going; you didn't have to follow me." She still sounded affronted, but it was ebbing slowly. Just as the initial shock Mushu had felt was.

"I wasn't following you," he defended himself, skipping over the fact that he hadn't been listening when she had told them. "Just… come back now and make sure I hear you … next time," he ended lamely. He definitely wanted to get past this embarrassing encounter and get her back to the camp.

He took care to make sure Ching stayed between him and Pahlin on the short way back. The horse still looked like he was ready to give a good pummeling. Mushu supposed his protectiveness for Ching wasn't helping his already less-then-fuzzy feelings towards him.

_Not_ that there was anything Mushu would do that she would need protection from, maybe the horse needed a better grasp on why he was here as well.

Mushu's small fire had burned down to the embers, so their little clearing was cloaked in darkness. Mushu tread carefully over to the little circle of stones he had made that held the remnants of his flames. It would be easy to accidentally smush Cri Kee-x in this dark they were in.

Once he got there, he quickly re-lit it. Not completely illuminating the area, but it was much better than nothing. Plus it did what Mushu had intended, it revealed the constructed tent, along with Cri Kee-x hopping out of it to join him.

He and Cri Kee-x looked up to Ching's face as her eyes landed on the tent. She was still in her towel – and shivering slightly – but the look of surprise and puzzlement was unmistakable.

Mushu could tell she was about to form a question, so he beat her to the punch, Cri Kee-x jumping up and down beside him, chirping that he hoped she was pleased.

"We just thought we'd set it up for you."

"'We'?" she asked, adjusting her weight from one foot to the other, her arms wrapped around herself for both warmth and to keep the towel up.

"It was his idea, I just went with it," he said, pointing to his still jumping companion. He was trying to sound nonchalant, but his hesitance was due to the fact that he hadn't anticipated her being all wet in the chilly night air upon her return.

"Huh," she said, "all by yourselves?"

"Hey, don't be underestimating us," he said, defending both himself and Cri Kee-x, but he couldn't stay insulted when he saw her shaking like that.

"But you better hurry and get inside and changed before you freeze." It'd be just great if – when he was supposed to be getting something to make Mulan well – he got her granddaughter sick in the process.

She apparently didn't need telling twice, bolting past the two of them to crawl through the flaps. Cri Kee-x began to hop in after her, but Mushu caught him and held him back. He didn't want that brief eyeful that he'd gotten burned into _his _innocent little retinas as well.

At least any type of resentment she might have held due to _that_ incident was probably forgotten, so hopefully it would never be brought up again.

* * *

_Author's note: Believe it or not, that accidental encounter has been in my head for about two years, pretty much since I came up with the idea for this story. _

_Again, I'm trying to make this one without a beta, so it will definitely probably have some errors._


	7. Talking Guard Dog

Mushu listened to Cri Kee-x's chirps of protest as he plopped the insect down beside him and the freshly re-lit flames.

Pahlin had poised himself for sleep much closer to Ching's tent than he had done the previous night, stomping his legs purposefully up to its side and then locking them in place with a quick glare in their direction. He didn't say anything, but his position made his thoughts quite clear.

Mushu had decided to just let it go however. If the horse didn't trust him, he didn't trust him. There was no reason for him not to, but if he started ignoring him, Pahlin might begin to do him the same courtesy.

He caught Cri Kee-x yawning and had to suppress one of his own. It was very late and they had done a lot today, it was definitely time to curl up and see how much sleep he could get before the sun came up.

He allowed his eyes to close, and began to feel himself drifting down to sleep. He was getting used to the idea of getting the good, non-magical kind of sleep more often, the small fear he had felt when he had gone to sleep outside Mulan's and Shang's bedroom of not being able to wake up again for such a long time had ebbed now.

It had been irrational, he thought now. It wouldn't all disappear, he was almost certain that he needed to be back at the temple to go under that other way. But he felt he was repeating himself, thinking all of this again, and tried to clear his mind.

Mushu only realized that he had been half-asleep when he was awoken by a soft rustle that had made his right ear twitch. Immediately after he heard it he opened his eyes and turned to look.

Ching had reemerged, kneeling down to sit on her legs next to him. Clothed for sleep in a light blue gown and dry now except for her hair, she watched the fire for a bit before looking over to where he and Cri Kee-x were.

Cri Kee-x was still close to Mushu, though evidently not asleep. Once he had seen that Ching had come back out he all but sprang into the tent, and Mushu watched him go in silently.

He turned back to Ching, she had watched Cri Kee-x go in too, and smiled. "I think I've spoiled him, he doesn't want to sleep out here anymore."

"Yeah," he answered half-heartedly, he had kind of enjoyed the company, what with the only other one out there being Pahlin.

A silence followed, and Mushu was thinking about laying his head back down when she spoke again.

"I wanted to thank you for putting that up for me," she said with a slight awkwardness, gesturing to the tent. "I'd thank you both at once, but little Cri Kee's already gone in."

Mushu had noticed that she didn't add the 'x', or even the XXIV. He didn't exactly like it, but he let it slide. She'd have been lucky to have known Cri Kee original, though.

"Hey, no problem," he said sounding friendly, though a touch cautious. There was still an air of stiffness between them, more formal rather than friendly.

To ease things he added, "What would things be like if we didn't help each other out every now and then?"

She nodded, and he watched her eyes fall back on the tent. Another pause and some mental deliberation on her part seemed to follow.

"If you'd want, you can sleep in there with me tonight, too."

Mushu hadn't anticipated that, he certainly hoped this wasn't her paying him back already. He'd much rather use up his favor with getting to hear about her family.

It was tempting though, in case of any more rain. Plus he would be away from Pahlin, or at least from _seeing_ him, what with how close the hulking beast was to the side of it he stood against.

Weighing the offer for a moment, he agreed. She smiled as she stood back up to go in, possibly the first non-sarcastic smile she'd given him.

She opened one of the flaps to let him in first, since he was so much smaller than her. There wasn't much to see, it was pretty small. A bit cramped really, now that Ching was in there. She crawled over to the blankets she had spread out for her bed, and he saw Cri Kee-x asleep in one of her shoes, chirping contentedly.

Ching picked up something and placed it closer to the flaps, not too far from the foot of her sleeping space. It was the towel she had used earlier. Mushu scooted out of her way as she scrunched up the towel, making a kind of nest with it. When she had stopped fiddling with it, she looked back over to him. She gestured to it, as if showing off her handiwork.

"There you go, that should be comfy," she said quietly but with a polite tone.

But all Mushu could do was stare at her and blink a few times. Did she really just make a little bed for him out of her _laundry_? Did she think he was some sort of _dog_? He fought pretty hard his desire to voice these thoughts. He reminded himself that this was a _nice_ thing she was doing, that they were trying to be _friendly_, and he should really just take what he could get.

He climbed into the center of it as she crawled back over to her space, still pretty flabbergasted that this was the way she thought of him.

It wasn't entirely bad. The towel was still a little damp, but not as wet as Mushu had anticipated. It did hold a few odd scents though. The smell of wet cloth was still pretty strong, as well as that heady farm animal smell from Pahlin. There was a good smell in there however; the merest hint of orchid…or some other flowers, definitely the scent of the essence Yun had sprinkled on it after it was cleaned.

To make it easier for him to fall asleep, he tried his best to focus on the pleasant smell through the stronger less-pleasant aromas.

* * *

When his eyes opened again Mushu could tell it had been much longer than the last time, but not too long. The amount of light filtering through the thin sides of the tent was about enough to see by, if you ignored the giant silhouette cast from Pahlin sleeping outside.

Bleary-eyed, Mushu picked his head up to see if anyone else was awake. He felt the textured fabric rub against his cheek as he moved. It was completely dry now, or at least it felt that way. He still got a huge whiff of those smells, but at least it had been comfortable.

His eyes found Ching's shoes, and in one still lay Cri Kee-x. He saw one of his friend's antennae twitch in his sleep, and amazingly he was still chirping softly. It was more sporadic and much quieter now, but still oddly impressive that he could keep it up.

Another light noise caused him to shift his gaze, and he found Ching's sleeping form. (It wasn't exactly hard to find since they were in such a small space, but still.)

It was a light kind of sigh, almost like a coo, but she did not move. It was a little hard to see clearly – since he was closer to her feet and they were presently spread out, obscuring some of his view – but he could see that one of her arms wasn't lying at her side like the other. Her left hand was propped under her head, her elbow sticking straight up in the air.

This – Mushu thought – was a very weird way to sleep. Even as he thought this, Ching turned over onto her right side, pulling her legs up and scrunching into a ball with that darn hand still lying on her head as if glued there.

He thought back over the last few days, and concluded that she didn't seem very much like what he'd thought the granddaughter of Mulan would be like. But then… he had never considered Mulan ever having a granddaughter.

He laid his head back down onto the towel; they could afford maybe another hour. Mushu did make a mental note to say something about how she saw him, if this towel thing was any indication.

* * *

All too soon the tent was alive with three awakening individuals, one trying to rouse the others while still getting up himself.

"Come on, we've still gotta pack everything up," Mushu said as he picked up Cri Kee-x who had not budged from his comfy shoe bed.

Ching had heard him, and she sat up blinking and holding her left arm. She moved her hand around a bit as if it had gone numb. "Just give me a few minutes to get dressed."

Mushu nodded impatiently and carried Cri Kee-x out of the tent. He had miscalculated on the time and they had slept much more than he had planned. It was making him feel a little more hurried than normal seeing the sun so high in the sky.

He put his friend down near the remnants of his fire and began to clear it away. Mushu didn't really want to have to wait on her like he'd had to do; very strange how he could wake up feeling like this when he'd actually had a restful night's sleep.

At least the horse was up, up and now standing in front of the entrance to the tent. Mushu didn't care, he wasn't going back in. He'd have to help take it down but that was all.

He heard Cri Kee-x bleat a weary greeting, and inquire as to why he was outside, but unfortunately he didn't see the cricket jump back inside to presumably get back in Ching's shoe. If Mushu had caught him, he could have saved his friend from a newly-discovered phobia.

It was when he noticed that Cri Kee-x wasn't there that he came dashing out of the tent to hide behind Mushu.

"What?" he asked as he whipped around to see his friend and try and keep him from grabbing onto his leg.

All he could make out from Cri Kee-x's jibbering chirps was that he had seen something on Ching's back.

"Ok, ok, just stay here," Mushu said only a tad forcibly. Cri Kee-x had calmed, but he wouldn't do anywhere near the tent.

It looked like Mushu wouldn't be either, what with Ching's guard-horse blocking the way. Rolling his eyes and holding up his hands at the horse to show he wouldn't go any further, he called to her.

"Everything alright in there?"

"I'm almost done, don't worry,' he heard her answer back from inside.

"It's not that, it's… could you check your back?" He felt a little dumb asking, especially having to shout across only about two feet.

"For what?" she shouted back, sounding confused and a tad perturbed.

But she must have done so without an answer, for a few seconds later her hand emerged from the flaps, flicking something off into the grass before disappearing again.

Mushu turned back to Cri Kee-x, looking from him to where whatever it was had landed. He raised an eyebrow and made his way over to the thing, Cri Kee-x following him curiously but with some caution.

"It's a tick," he said flatly. Cri Kee-x nodded and chirped that he had seen it on the small of her back and not known what to do.

"It can't hurt you," Mushu said while trying not to sound too unsympathetic at his friend. "It's a bug, _you're_ a bug."

At this Cri Kee-x quickly chirped that it was a much meaner kind of bug, it sucked blood.

"Yeah, they suck blood, do you even have blood?" he asked, really trying now to not be too amused. He steered Cri Kee-x away from the tick and they continued what part of the packing up they could with Ching still inside.

With the 'danger' passed and Ching finally out, Mushu and Cri Kee-x helped Ching take the tent down to her surprise. Cri Kee-x had pleaded with him and Mushu ended up agreeing. She had thanked him for the last time, but it was looking like it would become a more frequent occurrence.

* * *

Despite their late and considerably weird start, the group was actually making good time by late afternoon, thanks in most part to Pahlin focusing more on his trotting when his jibes towards Mushu were ignored, and due to Mushu's adamant refusal to allow any stops to be made until nightfall.

Almost fully recovered from the tick incident, Cri Kee-x had zonked out a few hours into the day's journey, and he now lay curled up next to Mushu who – despite his own feeble attempt – could not manage to sleep through the ride.

Today they would reach their midway point, the home of one of Ching's relatives. While Mushu assumed this was good news for her, he hoped that they wouldn't be staying too long. Anything more than one night would not go down well with him, but he wasn't sure Ching really needed any reminding about what might be lost along with any lost time.

He didn't like not knowing how Mulan was. He didn't like thinking about her lying in that bed back home, looking so weak. Someone that strong inside and out shouldn't have to waste away like that.

"You're being quiet," Ching observed. It was a statement, but it had a hint of a question near the end. It was true that he and Cri Kee-x hadn't said much throughout the day, but that was mainly because he was sleeping… and honestly, Mushu hadn't felt like it.

His mind hadn't allowed him to distract himself enough to push that creeping worry about Mulan back down from whence it came.

"Huh? Oh, yeah," he mumbled, still a bit lost in his thoughts. At least her speaking had reminded him of his mental note, and it could have the dual purpose of helping him think of something other than his friend's failing health.

"Hey, about letting me in last night," he began, trying to make it clear that he wasn't ungrateful. "Thanks, but what was with the bed that you made me?"

"What about it?" she asked, turning her head the slightest amount she could. Her question sounded guarded; obviously his sentence hadn't come out as he'd hoped. "Was it uncomfortable or something?"

Actually it hadn't been, he'd gotten a better sleep than he'd had since he 'woke up'. It wasn't really that big a contest; he'd only been awake what, a week now? Less?

"Nah, it's not like that, it's just…" He tried again to avoid offending her, so he didn't go for the accusation of 'you think I'm a dog or something?' that he was thinking of. He supposed he could go for the real question.

"How do you see me, exactly?"

He was half-expecting some cutesy response like 'with my eyes', but he was surprised that she seemed to be actually pondering it, looking for a genuine response.

"You know, I'm not sure," she said, thoughtfully. "I really just thought you were here just because no one seems to trust me, and that apparently I needed someone to watch over my shoulder." She turned her head slightly again, and he leaned around to catch her eyes as they glanced back for a second.

"But that's starting to change now. You may seem like a babysitter at times, but I guess that you're really just like a talking guard dog."

He could tell that she meant it as a compliment, but hearing the word that he himself had been thinking was far from complementary to Mushu.

"But I'm not!" he said defensively, and then lowered his voice as he remembered his sleeping insect friend beside him. "Not the 'dog' part anyway, it's not like I'm some sort of animal."

"Well…you kind of are," Ching said, evidently thinking she was stating the obvious and trying to be delicate about it.

Of course he _knew_ that, Mushu knew he was an animal. He had just never thought of himself as one, and had never come across anyone who counted him as such. At least, not in the Fa family.

"Your grandmother didn't think of me like that, I wasn't anything else but her friend. I helped her out through most of her biggest and baddest times, too."

"But, is that normal?" she asked "for a… guardian?"

Mushu leaned his head to one side then the other, deliberating. "Probably not," he admitted, but stayed firm with his defense.

They hit a lull again, but at least for the first time that air of stiffness seemed to be fading, if only a tad.

"I'll see what I can do about the sleeping arrangements when we get to Miki's," she said to end the conversation at about where it began.

Mushu supposed that went better than it could have, but as he laid back next to Cri Kee-x, his head pointed up and his eyes watching Ching's hair bouncing in-time with Pahlin's steps from way up in that weird up do, he still felt a bit perplexed.

He certainly hoped that by the end of this trip, she could at least count him as a friend. Not on the Mulan level – that wasn't possible – but at least friend_ly_.

* * *

_Author's Note: Well, we're over halfway, and as you know now so are they. This chapter had a pretty sizeable overhaul, and I was attempting to bring the feel back around to where it's supposed to be, because somehow it's gotten to comedic. The funny thing is, I didn't think I could write comedicly…still don't. But yeah, gonna have to turn it 'round. But don't worry, it doesn't turn into a big list of characters dropping like flies like what seemed to happen in SSF. But I am trying to get back to the emotion of the characters. _


	8. Can't Pick Your Family

Unfortunately, the remaining time between their little talk and their destination was still enough that he was able to turn over the conversation in his mind, and he was able to come to a conclusion. Her view of him was probably why she had gotten over him accidentally seeing her at the lake. Not that it was something she should have gotten worked up about…

Still, he confirmed his determination to at least get her to see him as an equal, and hopefully a friend. That's the way Mulan saw him.

But again, this was not Mulan, he had to remind himself, Ching was different. She'd been raised differently, and she thought differently, it seemed.

As they neared the modest house through the not-so-modest gateway, Ching paused from climbing down off Pahlin and looked questioningly at Mushu, still in his usual spot next to Cri Kee-x

"So, how exactly will this work for you? Should you hide, or… can they not see you?"

"What do you mean?" Mushu asked, but he realized immediately after speaking. These people may be members of Ching's family, but they were not members of the Fa or Li families.

"Oh, right. You know what? I'm still not sure."

"You mean you and my grandmother never encountered this problem?" she asked.

"No, no…we did, and usually I'd hide." He supposed he could do that, and he should have thought of that sooner. He certainly was not comfortable with Ching enough to hide down her shirt like he sometimes had done with Mulan. It made him feel awkward just thinking about it, so he didn't suggest it.

"Well, if your going to hide, you'd better do it, here comes someone."

He saw her spot someone and give a small roll of her eyes, than put on a greeting smile that seemed a little pained.

Mushu and Cri Kee-x ducked down into the bushes nearby, not trusting Pahlin not to kick them if they hid anywhere close to him.

Through the thick leaves Mushu could peek out and see Ching walking with Pahlin beside her, and heard someone emerging from the house at the far end.

The girl was soon close enough for Mushu to see her waving enthusiastically, almost skipping up to Ching. This girl was slighter and visibly younger than her, with her hair in a different, twisty-er up do.

"Oh, Ching Lan!" she cried excitedly, only slowing because she had reached Ching and Pahlin. "It's wonderful to see you cousin!" She bowed quickly, slightly out of breath.

"Nice to see you too, Miki," Ching returned the greeting, putting on a much more sincere face and tone than Mushu had seen earlier.

"I didn't know you were coming, are you staying long?" Miki asked as she took Pahlin's reins and began to guide him and Ching to a stable not too far from the main house. When Mushu saw that they were on the move, he picked Cri Kee-x up and began following, but careful to stay out of sight.

"Just for the night, two at the most. That is, if your parents allow it." He heard Ching answer, a slight stammer in her voice, as if taken a back. Possibly due to Miki grabbing her horse?

"Oh I'm sure they won't mind. Family is always important," she trilled. Then in with a light squeal, she suddenly changed the subject. "Oh, and if you stay long enough you can meet Jiang! Can you believe I'm betrothed? It's so exciting…"

After listening to her all the way to the stable, Mushu began to tune her out. He now understood Ching's less-than-thrilled look just before Miki showed up. This girl could not stop talking if her life depended on it. Though he wasn't exactly paying attention to what she said, he noticed the name of her betrothed and words such as 'married' and 'wedding' were being repeated more than once.

Ching seemed to be taking it well. Mushu couldn't be completely sure though. He saw her nod and shake her head at what he assumed were the appropriate times, but not being able to get a word in.

Their house was a tad bigger than Mulan's, and somehow had a feel of modesty even with all the hints of extravagancies that surrounded it, like the gateway and the stable.

After the two girls had entered, Mushu had to do a little stealth work to follow them inside. A window was not too far from the side of the house they were on. Quickly checking to make sure no one was inside, Mushu climbed through, landing on a long window seat cushion.

The inside was the same – Mushu noticed - normal rooms with additional things that simply looked more expensive than the common farmer could afford.

Hearing cousin yammer-mouth a few rooms away, Mushu then thought about entering the hallway. Cri Kee-x then leapt out of his grasp, looking around and crawling through a tiny hole in the corner of the room.

Mushu looked grumpily down at the hole, hearing Cri Kee-x chirp that he'd found a way to the next room.

"Yeah, that's great for you, but there's no way I can make it through there," Mushu said.

Cri Kee-x chirped his apology, and Mushu told him to just go on, he'd have to find another way.

Staying close to the wall, Mushu slid along a few steps before shifting his eyes from one end of the hallway to the other. Still, no one was around. He made a dash for the room across from where he stood, and flitted back and forth across the hall this way until he finally reached them in the main room.

"I suppose Mother is out right now. My father normally doesn't get home from the fields until dark, but once Mother returns I'm sure she'll give you permission. It shouldn't be too long."

So there _weren't _even any other people in the house? Mushu had just done all of that sneaking around for _nothing_? Exasperatedly, he found a large decorative pot near one corner of the room. Still trying to be quiet despite the need being not as great as they'd thought, he scrambled into the pot, hidden from view but still able to hear the conversation that was almost one-sided going on.

Down inside the confines of the white porcelain, there wasn't really anything Mushu could do but listen.

The young girl Miki was still going on as she had done, but eventually she actually asked a question aimed towards Ching that was an inquiry about her, and not merely a rhetorical one about her impending nuptials.

"So, what about you, have you gotten betrothed yet, Ching Lan?"

Ching might have been tuning her cousin out as well, for she sounded jarred when she answered, like her mind had been wandering.

"What, oh, no…not yet."

This did not sound like the answer Miki intended to hear, or, maybe she'd been anticipating a longer one. Either way, her voice sounded shorter, a bit terser, but still as if wanting to be friendly.

"Oh…well, that's alright I suppose. I mean, when was the last time we saw each other? When my sister got married I think, and that was only a few years ago. That was the last time I heard about your 'special circumstances'," she emphasized the last two words. This intrigued Mushu, but for some reason Ching wanted to avoid the subject.

"I'm merely taking my time. I would just like to make sure I'm as happy as I'm sure you will be," to her cousin she may have sounded sincere, but Mushu's keen ears picked up a trace of sarcasm, and more confirmation that she wanted to avoid the subject.

Miki seemed happy to oblige, and it didn't seem to take much to get her back on her favorite subject.

Thankfully it wasn't long after then that another set of feet was heard, and a new voice joined them in the room.

"Miki, if I step out for a moment you could always continue what I started in the kitchen for me. You'll have to do that for your new mother-in-law, you know."

She had apparently completed her sentence and entered the room before noticing Ching, for Mushu heard her again, a bit surprised. "Oh, Ching Lan, I haven't seen you in a while."

"I was going to ask if I could stay the night, or possibly two," Ching clarified. She was back to that courteous tone.

This new female voice matched it. "Oh, of course, stay as long as you need. You could probably help us; Miki's father is on his way in. I saw him putting his horse away."

Sure enough, eventually Mushu heard a new set of feet, and a deeper, more resonant male voice greeted the women.

One of the women's feet scuttled off to another room, and clatters were heard as she was presumably finishing the preparations for dinner.

"Ah, there is nothing like visiting with one's in-laws. They are taking such good care of your dear elder sister, Miki." The man seemed to be quite boisterous and about as loud as his daughter.

"Oh, how is she?" Miki asked, and more clatters were heard as plates were set and people moved to the table.

"Pregnant," the man answered Miki. "At least they're almost certain. They're hoping for a boy."

"Well, it's about time," Mushu heard the mother as she entered the room again. "They've been married almost two years?"

Mushu was beginning to wonder if the family had all but forgotten that Ching was there. The man hadn't even acknowledged that there was an extra girl in the room until Mushu dared a peek out into the room to see them all sitting down to their dinner.

"So Ching Lan, you are visiting, are you?" said the man, skipping the greeting and showing that he had indeed known she was there when he had entered.

His face was slightly pointed, and his thick beard almost hid his still jovial but now slightly wry smile.

Ching was facing towards him, with her back to Mushu, so he could not see her expression, but she sounded as courteous as she had been to her hostess.

"I'm merely passing through, Cousin Ping. I do thank you though for allowing me to stay here."

"Oh, it's no trouble, no trouble at all Ching Lan. Stay as long as you need," he mimicked his wife's earlier words. He then continued without segue. "How is your family fairing lately? All well, I hope?"

"Most of them, that's actually why I'm traveling, my grandmother has fallen ill and our local doctor didn't have what can help her."

"Goodness, and they sent you to retrieve it by yourself?" Ping's wife asked concernedly.

"Well, she's probably the only one they could spare," Ping seemed to explain to her as if it were plain. "Her father needs to work about as much as I do. A merchant's life is almost as tiresome as a farmer, although perhaps without as much of the toil."

"Yes, and your dear mother would be needed to stay to take care of the home, and to tend to your grandmother until you return," she said now to Ching.

Mushu thought there was something off about the man's statement. The woman seemed at least mildly concerned, but the man almost sounded like he was putting Ching's father down.

"But it's good to see them taking such great lengths to heal your grandmother…although it seems great lengths are often taken when it comes to 'the hero of China'," his good-natured tone had altered at the end of that statement; he emphasized it, filling it with sarcasm.

His wife seemed to catch this. "Ping, don't say such things about family, or even imply-"

He cut her off quickly, though. "Shu, you and I both know there have been hundreds of 'heroes of China', I've seen them. My grandfather sent them to battle, and many of them lost their lives. They didn't ask for such special treatment, to have laws altered only to change their minds at the last minute."

Mushu then heard someone sigh in frustration, it was higher than Shu's and Ching's voices, Miki?

"But they try almost as hard as we do. They're no more above the common man than we are," Shu seemed to be trying to ease things. Hopefully that meant she hadn't forgotten that there was a member of the family her husband was currently speaking poorly about right across from them.

"They don't have to try as hard, but they still stand out, same as we do." Ping still spoke in that conversationally mocking tone, and it was irking Mushu more and more every time he spoke. He didn't quite understand everything, but he knew when his family was being insulted, and especially when Mulan was being insulted.

"They were common before and seemed to gain status overnight, almost the exact opposite of you and me. I'm sure they're striving to remain humble, same as we are. Isn't that right, Ching Lan?"

Ching did not answer him. She merely sat in her spot, not giving away any sense of insult, or anger, or any sort of the emotions that Mushu could feel rising inside him. He wasn't even sure she was looking up at Ping.

"You try your hardest not to instill envy in your neighbors, make sure they know things haven't changed, and not to judge us by certain _conspicuous_ members of our family tree."

What the heck was that supposed to mean? Who were this guy's 'conspicuous' family members, and if this family's and the Li's situations were so similar why did this guy make it sound like_ they_ were so much better? Was being humble a competition?

More importantly, why wasn't Ching saying anything? She obviously didn't have a problem talking back to _him_, and she certainly could say something without being rude.

* * *

Mushu had to wait until everyone had gone to their respective rooms for sleep to voice his indignation. He cornered Ching in the guest room as she was getting ready for bed herself.

Mushu found it interesting that a family who wished to be thought of as 'humble' and 'not above the common man' were rich enough to have a complete stable _and_ a guest room.

"So, what was that?" he asked her. Ching had just sat down on the bed and glanced over to him. Mushu thought she should be getting tired of looking so confused when he asked her something by now.

She seemed to take in his tone and his stance, one of his arms leaning on the side of the bed, staring up at her almost accusingly.

"All right, I give up, what was what?"

"I heard those things they were saying to you, and you didn't stick up for yourself once!" he gestured up at her and let his hand slam back onto the bed. "All that stuff that girl was saying about her getting married before you, and those other two, saying they were no different from anyone else but then clearly lording their status over your family! They're just so full of themselves!"

Mushu continued to seethe, and Ching watched him, surprised that he was actually offended on _her_ behalf.

"Well, what could I have said?" she asked, not knowing what else to say. "Those things Miki said are true. I _am_ older than her. I'm _not_ married yet, and my family _has_ given me time to make a decision that usually no girl is allowed."

She scooted back on the bed and crossed her legs, possibly wanting to back away from Mushu in his current mood.

Mushu lifted himself onto the bed as well, sitting on the edge as Ching had just been. He wasn't quite as loud when he spoke again. "That doesn't mean they had to rub it in your face like that. So you don't wanna get married yet, so your family's unconventional, and aren't _they_ different from everyone else?" He went by what that Ping guy had been alluding to.

"Yes, but I suppose they just want to play the part." Ching answered calmly, and slightly thoughtfully, as if trying to convince herself as well as Mushu.

"You heard them too, since you were listening in. Ping was the crowned prince, but he abdicated the throne. Many of the people around here must think poorly – or at least differently – of him and his whole family. They must have to work extra hard to show their neighbors that they are no different from them, and adhering to the old normal customs is one way to do that."

Mushu took a moment to process this. So he was the son of that oldest princess and Ling? For some reason Mushu thought he should have figured, and this made the man's words seem even more unbelievable.

"And how about putting you down and insulting your family for their ways?" Mushu asked. "I mean, to completely go against the things their parents fought so hard to achieve? Where would that Ping guy be if his parents hadn't defied those customs?"

"I know," she agreed quietly, looking away from him now, though she didn't really avoid looking at him all that much, he'd noticed. This time however, there seemed to be more attached to that short sentence and lack of eye contact. It jogged Mushu's memory.

"What did that girl mean when she'd said 'special circumstances?"

He saw her look of recognition, and watched her play with a small tear in her green skirt. He felt a shadow of the slight tension he had felt back at the Li's.

She exhaled, and ceased plucking the tear to clasp her hands around her knees as she brought them close to her.

"My family all seem to have their own opinions on my future. My parents wanted to send me to a match-maker, or arrange a match themselves back when I was even younger than Miki. My grandparents though thought I should be free to make that choice on my own. The argument was mostly between Father and Grandmother…"

"I should say so," Mushu couldn't help interrupting. "A descendant of Mulan not being able to make up her own mind, why was your father against it?"

"He's… of a similar mind to cousin Ping." She said warily, already knowing his opinion on Ping. Before he could interrupt again, she met his eyes and promptly raised a hand to silence him. "You have to see it from his side, I suppose. Grandmother is a hero, but just like in Ping's case, there are those who think of and treat her differently, whether positively or not. Father thinks that being traditional will counter the negative treatment our family sometimes receives."

"Is he ashamed of her?" His own question was something he could barely fathom. No matter how differently he saw things for whatever reason, Deshung couldn't be _that _disrespectful.

"I honestly don't know, he doesn't speak enough at home to tell. So when they had the argument about my marriage plans, I tried to stay out of it. It was the most – and the loudest – I had ever heard him speak at the time."

Mushu scooted back a bit more to match her. She wasn't shying away anymore, but she still spoke softly, still in that almost-understanding and self-convincing way. "Grandmother won out in the end. I am free to choose whomever I want."

"But, you don't want anyone," Mushu stated. That seemed pretty clear to him, or she'd be married off by now.

"Not yet," she sighed. "It's not that I haven't looked though. I just never found anyone, but that might be because all the boys around were already matched up."

She looked down at him again, a smirk present for only half a second. "Honestly though, I don't really know how much I believe I _should_ get married. I mean, I see how my mother has to be, and how my parents act around each other. I can't help but notice their… lack of closeness"

Mushu nodded, he had definitely noticed this when he'd seen them.

"On the other hand, my grandparents are so different, much more than concerned with each other, I can always sense a caring bond between them. I don't know, maybe it's something that comes with age," she seemed to be wondering out loud now.

He didn't believe that last part, and by how she'd said it, he wasn't certain she did either.

"So, is that what you want, to not get married?"

"I just want to make everyone happy."

"Than you are sadly out of luck, Ching." Mushu said. "You can't live your life trying to make everyone happy, cause you're never gonna succeed. And even if by some miracle you do, than there'll still be one person unhappy… you. You'll get left out. Of course, you can't have life be all about you either… there's a balance you have to find, you know what I mean?"

"I…think so," she answered. "Was that some sort of 'guardian wisdom'?"

"I guess so, or as close to it as you'll get tonight." They had come so close, and yet Mushu still felt he only knew a bit of this familial disagreement. But as he had sensed back with Shang, this seemed like a touchy subject with her, so despite his continuing curiosity, he dropped the subject.

"Now I think it's time for you to get some sleep."

She definitely did not put up a fight about that, simply letting her head fall back onto the pillow and stretching her legs out (which Mushu had to jump out of the way to avoid).

The bed was big enough that it could accommodate all three of them quite comfortably. Cri Kee-x had already been asleep when Ching shook it with her landing, and he had to reclaim his spot after being shot the entire length of the bed.

As had happened earlier, Mushu somehow felt awkward at the thought of them all sharing the bed. It might have been spacious, but it was smaller than the tent, and in the tent he'd been all the way at the edge, not near the head. It was yet another thing that was perfectly fine for him and Mulan, but with Ching it just felt different, too intimate.

The other two looked like they had no qualms to sleeping all together like this. Cri Kee-x looked like he was already out of it and he watched Ching roll over to find a more comfy position – that hand back up on her head.

He smirked a little to himself as he curled up next to Cri Kee-x on the left side of the bed, where no pillow lay. Grandma Fa seemed to know what she was talking about. It really wasn't about merely making sure she got the stuff to make Mulan better, was it? Ching really seemed like she needed some help with self-worth.

She seemed at odds with herself. She didn't want her family making all of her decisions, but she seemed to fear making the wrong ones when given the choice herself.

He was sure he needed to help her somehow with all of that before they reached their journey's end. Did he know exactly how he was going to accomplish this? Not in the least, but he thought at least he should give it a shot.

* * *

_Author's Note: Well, I seemed to have skipped a month, huh? I'm very sorry about that, hoping it won't happen again. I got stuck on a pretty boring (I think) part, but at least from here on in I feel it gets better._

_Not a very good sign when the author has to assure the reader 'keep going, it gets better, I swear!' But at least I don't swear, that's not very nice. Will re-upload if any major oops are found._


	9. A Flawed First Attempt

Though she was a guest in the house, Ching wanted to rise early with the family to help her female cousins with their duties while Ping went off to tend to his fields. It was a fair way to pay them back for letting her stay, she thought, and it was a good opportunity for Mushu to begin coaching her.

"ALL-right," Mushu said authoritatively, lengthening the one word out into two. He marched the width of the guest bed in front of Ching and Cri Kee-x who were both still waking and had immediately arose to his almost militaristic pacing.

"Now that I have a better idea of why we're all here, the best thing to do would be to start up as soon as possible."

Cri Kee-x was already standing, watching his friend walk over the two obstacles in his path that were Ching's legs. After she had sat up to watch as well, Ching pulled them up close to her as she had done the night before. Mostly to get them out of his way.

Ching was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes, but she felt compelled to inquire after blowing a strand of hair from her face. It was almost like he was waiting to be asked.

"And what would we be getting started on, precisely?"

"I thought about it all night, and I came up with a pretty good first-step for you on the road to Self-worth City! First stop; confidence."

"Excuse me, but I have self-worth," Ching said defensively.

Mushu gave her a backwards glance as he spun back around from the far end of the bed to pace back the other way.

"Not where anybody else I've seen is concerned," he stopped halfway across the bed right in front of her. "This is the most I've seen you defend yourself since we got to your relatives' house. Now, I wanna help you, it's what I'm here to do. You don't have to like it."

Cri Kee-x hopped out of the way as Ching flung the covers off of her legs and got out of bed to fix her hair… and possibly escape the fact that she _did_ need help.

"Do you think it's polite to spring things on a person first thing in the morning?" she asked, looking at Mushu's reflection in the mirror.

Clearly she was feeling a bit of regret about sharing so much the previous night.

"Really you know, it's not bad to need help with things." Mushu had stopped his march across the bed. He now perched himself on the corner closest to the mirror, speaking to her back.

"I'm not saying you aren't perfect – no wait, I am – but nobody's perfect… and if I keep going on like this than I'll just feel like I'm repeating myself from last night. So, would you _please_ listen to my plan?"

Ching made no signs that she had heard him. He watched her attempting to comb the tangles from her hair. It looked a bit painful. He then figured he'd try a different angle.

"Remember, you aren't the only one we both know that's ever needed my help."

After a few smooth strokes of the comb it found a tangle, and several strong pulls later it still held. Ching let go of the comb in frustration and it stayed clung to the tiny rat's nest, swinging comically from her hair as she turned around.

* * *

Miki's mother Shu actually seemed the lesser of three evils to Mushu, but Miki was closer to Ching's age and for comfort reasons he decided she would be easier for Ching to talk to more openly. Once the girl took a breath and let Ching speak up, of course.

Ching was reluctant when Mushu explained his plan, but he assured her that things were far simpler than she was thinking. He was sure they could find a way for her to be able to speak up and still be respectful… if that was Ching's biggest concern.

Finding another hiding place – this time between the table and one of the cushions – Mushu was able to hear even better than he had from the vase. He still couldn't see much, but he could hear clear into the other room where the two girls were.

He needed to wait for the right opportunity to get closer if he needed. Cri Kee-x was supposed to check for anything he could hide under or in that was any closer. It wasn't that bad a spot to be sure, but the view of skirts and feet wasn't the most interesting.

His size made Cri Kee-x quite adept at hiding and quite helpful as a scout when times such as these arose. Mushu couldn't even see him as he watched Ching's and Miki's skirts flow about as they shuffled from one place to another and listening to Miki count off the long list of things they were to do after they cleaned up from breakfast.

The little guy was getting so good at being all stealthy that he made Mushu jump a little when he suddenly appeared at his side. He reported that there wasn't anything he could see for Mushu to hide in or under that he could see.

"What, but you were just in there," he whispered sharply. Cri Kee-x explained that he didn't think there was anywhere for _him_ to hide under or in, as Mushu was quite a bit bigger than himself.

_Of course not_, he thought. _The one room in the house that doesn't and they have to be in there._

He sighed and began re-thinking. "Ok, try and steer her in here." He watched the little cricket scamper off with his new orders. Luckily he had prepared for this possibility (other than scouting ahead the night before, as Ching had pointed out).

He had asked Ching to carry the bag that she'd been storing their food in, but she had been reluctant, merely leaving it near Mushu's current hiding place.

He crawled inside the scratchy fabric as he heard Cri Kee-x's small chirp to get Ching's attention.

"Did you hear something?" he heard Miki ask, derailing her current stream of chatter.

"No," Ching answered hastily. She was apparently ignoring Cri Kee-x because he chirped again, which caused Miki to stop once more

"There it is, did you hear it that time?"

Mushu knew she was ignoring him not out of rudeness towards Cri Kee-x, but because Ching had made it clear she was still not a big fan of the plan.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear anything," she said with fairly good sincerity, then hesitantly adding, "Oh, I think I left my bag in the other room."

"Um, I don't think you really need it, Ching Lan," he heard Miki say incredulously. Ching had brought up this point too; she might look odd carrying her bag around while simply doing chores. Since it was merely the secondary idea though, Mushu hadn't entirely thought it through, now he supposed they'd just play it by ear.

He felt the gravity shift from the side of the bag to the bottom and rearranged himself accordingly so as not to feel scrunched. He looked up through the opening to see Ching slinging the strap over her shoulder, letting the bag slam against her side a bit harder than was really needed.

"Oof! Alrighty, can you hear me?' he attempted to speak in a stage whisper. He was wondering if it might be too muffled.

"Yes, and shh," Ching replied through one side of her mouth.

Mushu didn't dare lift his head any closer to the top, these guardian rules just got more muddled, he wasn't sure what –if anything – Miki would see or hear if he was discovered.

He felt Ching halt and heard Miki again, slowly putting her train of thought back on track after the short detour.

"Anyway, Mother said she would be back to help us with dinner. I think we have everything in here squared away. I think Father has some clothes that need mending, do you know how?"

"Huh, I'm surprised _you_ do," Mushu murmured to himself. Ching then jostled the bag on the pretense of adjusting the strap more comfortably on her shoulder. Mushu got the message.

"Yes, I do. My mother taught me." Ching answered in an even tone.

Miki's answering tone was just about as unflattering as the ones those parents of hers had used the night before. "Oh, well that's good, good that you learned it from someone."

Not quite as condescending as Ping, he supposed, but still enough insinuation. What exactly were they saying about Mulan around Miki? Did they expect Ching to not know certain things just because of their relation? That she wouldn't be as feminine?

He could very well make an assumption that they might have servants to do this kind of stuff for them. Her father may not want that type of life, but he seemed to want everyone to know he could have if he'd wanted.

A few more minutes of travel before they stopped and Mushu had to adjust himself again as the bag touched the floor. He saw that Ching still had the strap on her shoulder, but now the bag sat next to her leg. The ends of some of her hair were able to reach the opening. Mushu batted a few strands away and listened some more.

"You know, my mother taught me too," Miki said. "She said it was a good skill for girls to learn. You know, one of those things we'll need to know for once we're married and on our own."

She seemed to be returning to her usual lightness (and favorite subject) until an unusual thing happened, she fell silent. Mushu thought he might risk being seen to check if she hadn't left the room or something, but she began again, if only a bit cautiously.

"Ching Lan, I know you have your 'special circumstances' and you want to take your time and all, but… don't you think you'll ever get married?" She sounded almost curious, like she wanted to understand a foreign concept.

This was a window of opportunity Mushu hadn't anticipated, he just hoped Ching would take it. It was a lot more than he thought they'd get.

When she didn't say anything, he grabbed the strands of hair he could reach and tugged, hoping that she would get his message this time.

He tugged a bit harder, and eventually she spoke up while at the same time swiftly but softly smacking the surface of the bag.

"I'm not sure I would say 'never', I suppose."

"That's good, but keep it up," Mushu whispered up to her, tugging her hair again. "Try defending your ability to choose or something. Say how much easier it is."

"No," she whispered down indignantly without looking down at him.

"Why not? If you're worrying about being rude…" he tried to whisper, but was interrupted (not that she realized it) by Miki.

"No, what?" she asked. Mushu couldn't see her, but he imagined a puzzled expression growing on that tiny face of hers.

"Um… no, _because it's not_ as if I don't want to ever. It just might be wiser for me to wait." He assumed the emphasized part was meant for him, as was the second light smack on the bag.

"Are you feeling alright?" Miki asked concernedly.

"I'm fine," Ching answered, now standing and causing Mushu to have to adjust _again_. He was beginning to hope she would just stop moving altogether.

"Are you sure? Is it because I asked about that again?" Miki asked, presumably standing as well. "I didn't mean anything by it, I was merely wondering…"

"It's not that," Ching assured her.

"It's just that sometimes my mother says I can be impertinent if I ask questions on a subject people might find sensitive."

"But she doesn't say anything about talking too much?" Mushu mumbled and again was inaudibly told to shush.

"Then is it your bag? I told you that you wouldn't need it, I'll take it if it's bothering you," Miki seemed to have notice all the bopping of the bag. Mushu thought it must not be too hard to spot, however.

"No, nothing wrong with it either," Ching replied, turning slightly. Miki must have reached out for the bag and Ching pulled away.

"It's no trouble really," he heard Miki say as Ching slid the bag behind her back and turned the opposite direction, again evading Miki's hands.

It seemed like Miki would give up and both Ching and Mushu could relax when they heard another female voice call Ching's name in a very anxious voice.

"Ching Lan, don't move…" It was Miki's mother Shu. Mushu had no idea why she sounded so fearful. He could hear her getting closer, and he looked in the direction he heard her voice… and noticed that his tail was peaking out of the bag. In his last adjustment he had failed to account for where his tail was going.

He pulled it in quickly, but he was pretty sure what was coming.

Suddenly the bag was whipped off of Ching's shoulder and Mushu landed hard on the floor. Then WHAM! Something he couldn't see through the fabric came down hard on top of him.

He dashed out of the bag and attempted a serpentine pattern towards the open door, all the while being bombarded by what he now saw was a broom, and being chased by Shu screaming "Snake!"

His serpentine pattern probably didn't help, but after about five more blows he finally made it outside, where she chased him even further to make sure he was gone.

* * *

"'_Far simpler'_, is that what you call that?" Ching demanded of Mushu once they were safely back inside the guest room. She'd watched him climb in through the window, and was able to hold back her frustration with him only long enough for him to land on the cushioned bench.

"Hey, I should be mad at you," Mushu retorted. "Why'd you let that crazy lady chase me out into the yard like that?"

She looked at him as though it were obvious. "It's not like I could have stopped her if I'd had the chance! Wasn't that part of the whole 'guardian' thing, to keep it secret? It isn't as if I could have run up and grabbed the broom out of her hands and shouting 'Wait, stop! That tiny red reptile you are repeatedly thwacking over the head tells me what to do!'"

Mushu could see her point, but grudgingly. It really should have been obvious. He blamed the recent mild head trauma.

"I would have sounded insane," Ching continued, but then brought the subject back around to her reason for being mad. "Although it's not as if you didn't make me sound like that already."

He thought back to the apparent clinging and then abusing of the bag, and her overall odd manner having him along.

"Alright, you may have sounded a little crazy, but at least you were confident about it!" Mushu said, trying to prove that this had had a purpose. "The point of this was for you to stick up for yourself more, and whatever choices you make once you end up making them."

"But are you sure _this _was the right way to go about it?" she asked, not sounding really mad anymore, but her words carried a tinge of frustration as she sat down softly next to him on the bench.

"It might have, it got their attention didn't it?" Ching gave a scoffing laugh that he took as ascent. She had to agree that at least Miki was listening.

A moment passed while he gathered his thoughts, He noticed Cri Kee-x hop onto the dresser, watching them.

"You can always let people know what's on your mind, you know. You're respectful – at least, to all of _them_ – enough that you shouldn't worry about that. Sticking up for your self's just one part of it, and really the most you've done of that from what I've seen is when you want to argue with me."

Ching sat still on her side of the bench; she might have been absorbing this new pearl of

'guardian wisdom'. Mushu felt like he was on a roll with those things.

Mushu took this opportunity to ask her something, for what he said was true. He honestly _hadn't_ seen her talk as much or as animatedly with any of her family as she had been with him and to a lesser extent Cri Kee-x, not even her parents. Though the way she talked about them – and from what he'd observed – that wasn't all too hard to believe.

"Is there _anyone_ that you're comfortable talking to?'

He watched her blink as she seemed to search her memory. It couldn't be that hard to think of, surely. But when she looked back to him, she looked a bit awkward.

"My grandmother?"

Huh, Mushu probably should have known. He had to agree, she was pretty easy to talk to.

"That's a start," he said. Now that she was no longer towering over him he felt like he was free to move a bit. He took the opportunity to stand so he could use his hands to emphasize his words.

"Except that she's not here right now. If we can get you closer to being more like that with others, think about how proud she'll be when she gets well again."

"Yeah, that's a good way of looking at it." Ching replied, giving a slow nod. She then stood again, slowly. She sighed. "I guess we can keep trying, but no more for now," se said resignedly. "And we'll definitely need to work things out more beforehand."

"We're you going?" Mushu asked. The way she was talking he thought she was going to let them have a meeting so he could work on a new plan.

"There are still chores to do. I still want to help them while I'm here," she said from the doorway. Her smile was wry as she turned and left.

Mushu supposed he could always observe from a distance for something to do, when she popped back in for a moment.

"Oh, and also my brother," she said. Mushu raised an eyebrow. "He's another I can talk to," she elaborated. "Although he may not count, he's still a baby after all."

She then left again, and Cri Kee-x joined him on the bench. He had witnessed the calamity from the safety of the tiny crack he had found the previous day. Mushu would have said 'good for you' or something similar with a similar amount of sarcasm, but his small insect friend wasn't saying anything or laughing about what happened. He appreciated it too.

It was only when Cri Kee-x suggested they try and sneak back to where the three women were that what Ching had said registered with him. He hadn't made the connection when she'd said it, but now he raised his hand as if to stop everything and looked back to where she had gone.

"Wait… _brother_?"

* * *

_Author's Whine: Aaarrrgghh! This was soooo haaaard! :P_

_No really, it was pretty hard to figure out, since I only realized a big historical inaccuracy when I was almost done and had to alter the whole chapter accordingly. I know the actual movie Mulan isn't the most accurate, but this one I really wanted to fix. _

_Very sorry it took me so long, and sorry it's so short (yadda yadda ;)_

_But I did leave you with a revealing moment for Mushu and a cliffhanger! I've been going back and forth about the overall length of the story, and for now I'm thinking around 14-16 chapters if this premise doesn't feel too stretched._

_Thank you for reading, anyway, and please continue to do so. I'm hoping the next chapter will come out soon, and some more reviews might give me more incentive (I always feel weird when I ask for reviews/comments/whatever, but if it isn't a bother?)_


	10. What They Didn't Know

Cri Kee-x followed Mushu from one end of the room to the other, he couldn't get a word out of the dragon though, for Mushu had returned to pacing – much slower and less conscious than his steps of earlier in the morning – he was looking back through his encounters at the Li house, racking his brain for any sign or inclination that showed there was another grandchild of Mulan and Shang living there. He was coming up very short.

Nobody had said a word about a baby brother. He did realize that he wasn't included in all the conversations and goings-on in the house for the brief time he was there, but he would think something like a baby wouldn't go unnoticed.

He was brought out of his musings by Cri Kee-x hopping in and out of his line of vision in an attempt to get his attention.

Once he'd gotten it, Cri Kee-x wondered if it would be a good idea to get back to Ching since the plan from earlier hadn't gone exactly the way they had wanted.

Mushu hmphed derisively, that seemed a bit of an understatement. "Saw that, did you? You bet it didn't go well, I'm still sore in some places. Bet I even got some splinters from that broom!"

Cri Kee-x then asked how that could be, since Mushu had scales which could not get splinters caught in them like skin could. Judging by his jesting tone, Mushu assumed this was payback for his lack of sympathy during the whole tick incident. This surprised him; Mushu didn't think the cricket had it in him.

"Oh ha ha. But yeah, we should get back to watching her. Let's stay back this time though, 'till I can think of another idea."

He didn't tell Cri Kee-x about the jumble of thoughts in his head brought on by Ching's revelation. She may not have thought to mention this brother of hers until now, but Grandma Fa had failed to as well… and that seemed significant to him. So he hid this from his friend, in case it wasn't for his ears (or whatever crickets used to hear with).

* * *

Ching was now outside with Miki, Miki off a little ways feeding the chickens (Ching had mentioned an aversion to caring for poultry) while Ching was toting water in a large and apparently heavy bucket towards the house.

Miki being so far off from Ching made it easier for Mushu and Cri Kee-x to approach her once she'd emerged from the house. She shook her arms a bit, wiping off the small amount of sweat, sighing with clear relief to be free of the extra weight.

When she spotted them she smiled, but rolled her eyes and exclaimed exasperatedly, "You couldn't have shown up a bit sooner to help me with that?" She had obviously known they had arrived earlier.

Mushu took it as a rhetorical question, even if it wasn't. Ching was now making her way back to Miki, who seemed to be done with the chickens. After they had made their presence known to her, they went to find a spot to hide as they came closer to Miki.

Miki seemed a bit winded as well, though not quite as much as Ching. In lieu of no one to direct her normal amount of chatter towards, Mushu wondered if she might have been talking to the chickens.

From there, the two girls continued ticking off the items on Miki's mental to-do list. Sweeping the rooms and finishing the mending, all the while Miki was her usual self – for the most part. There would be times between the end of one anecdote and the beginning of another one, when the girl would pause and the air between them would edge toward awkward. But then she would smile and start right back up again.

It wasn't until later that Ching finally got to hear what Miki really wanted to say.

"Is it alright if we go towards the stable now?" Ching inquired, "It's just that I haven't seen Palin since I arrived."

"Oh, of course" Miki said. "I should check on our other horse too anyway." She didn't sound too thrilled with it, but was apparently making an effort to accommodate her cousin.

The stable was not unlike the rest of the property this family owned, but Mushu noted that it was stocked to accommodate more than the three horses (counting Pahlin) that resided there.

It was Miki's turn to lug water this time around, only to quench Pahlin and the family's horse. Ching was kind enough to help, and it was indeed easier with two.

It was when they were busying themselves cleaning, feeding, and generally caring for their equine charges that Miki's stream of conversation slowed down again into nonexistence, just like it had done that morning. Mushu wasn't sure if he should think anything of it, but Ching seemed to, because she brought it up.

"…Yes?" Ching prompted her to continue with her story she'd been telling, and Mushu tried to remember just what the story was about. For some reason Miki now seemed reluctant to continue, and she even looked thoughtfully away from her cousin.

Ching of course continued to notice up close what Mushu could from his hiding place slightly behind the stable entrance.

"Is there something on your mind?" Ching asked finally after a few more minutes of very uncharacteristic silence.

Miki fumbled with the brush she had been focusing so intently on stroking through her mare's hair. She sounded cautiously inquisitive, as she had done during their last interrupted conversation.

"It's not anything, really. I wouldn't want to be rude"

Mushu was about to whisper some sort of cutting remark, but Cri Kee-x shushed him.

"I'm sure that it wouldn't be as bad as some of the more recent things that have been said to me," Ching said frankly, hoping the lightness of her tone would both coax Miki to continue - and gloss over the thought of Ping's past comments.

"I was merely wanting you to know... that my father's views aren't the exact same as mine," she said, now looking around a bit as if he might be eavesdropping. "I also wondered... if you look down on me at all for being so happy about my arranged marriage."

Neither Ching nor Mushu was expecting that. Evidently the arrival of her non-conventional cousin had stirred up some conflicting thoughts in Miki's mind. Everybody just kept surprising him, Mushu thought; perhaps the old adage about books and judging their covers was right.

"No, of course not," Ching assured her, putting Pahlin's brush down and turning to face Miki, who looked positively meek? now. "You're sure of what you want, and it just happens to go with tradition. If you weren't happy with it, then I would probably think differently. To be honest, I'm pleased that you have such assurance, I even admire it a bit."

"Really? I admire _you_ for searching like you are, being able to weigh your options, even having options," she backtracked "That isn't to say_ I_ don't, just... different, or not as many or… something. I _do_ know that you're much braver than me."

Ching chuckled uneasily. She didn't think she was so brave, but Mushu thought she had a point. While in no way as brave as some, he could see why Miki would say that. In a land with so much tradition, to be differently-thinking, not to mention going this far across the countryside presumably by herself. Not the same level as fighting or anything like that, but still something he'd debate could be called so.

They continued with their work after this, things seeming much less awkward now that Miki had gotten that off her chest. She was back to herself in full force; with the exception that Ching was able to really contribute to the conversation (i.e. let her answer and gave her time to speak as well).

Mushu wanted to take some credit for this change, but he had to admit that it was all them. He was still pretty sure that his coaching did help Ching though, of course.

* * *

Even though everyone was happy about the events of that afternoon, Mushu saved his 'atta-girls' for after Ching, Miki, and Shu had finished cleaning up after dinner and they were safely inside the guest room and preparing for bed.

Now that they were on friendlier footing, it had been hard to pry to two girls apart so that Mushu and Cri Kee-x could come out from hiding. Mushu commented on that as she disappeared behind the changing screen at the far corner of the room adjacent to the window seat.

"Gonna start talking that much from here on in? Cause if so, warn me now," he joked.

"I wouldn't go so far as to say that, don't worry. Though once I got going, it was fairly nice. And much easier than I thought, too," she mused.

"Yeah, not too bad for the final day," Mushu stated, the congratulatory air diminishing now. "We need to leave tomorrow if we're gonna make it to that town any time soon."

Tired from the day, but still fairly up from her apparent progress, Ching changed quickly and nodded when she emerged from behind the changing screen in her same light blue dressing gown, the smile she had worn when she had entered now faded.

"That's right, we can't forget that time is a factor," She left it at that.

The atmosphere in the room dropped considerably, no longer reveling in the conversation with Miki. All three beings' minds drifted back to Ching's home, each wondering with measurable amounts of worry just how Mulan was doing. While it wasn't pleasant to think about, the thought would keep them moving once they got started again, hopefully push them to go more quickly, just to get this trying time for their family over with.

Remembering Mulan at home sparked Mushu's memory, he suddenly remembered what he wanted to talk to Ching about. "Oh right, the brother!"

"What brother?" she asked quizzically, stopping halfway to the bed at Mushu's outburst.

"_Your_ brother! The baby one I didn't know about."

She'd started moving again, but now back towards the window seat where Mushu had jumped to immediately upon entering the room.

"You didn't know about him?"

"No, Grandma Fa didn't tell me," he said, the feeling of surprise and indignation he had felt upon learning of Enlai coming back to him. He recounted to her what he could remember of what Grandma Fa had told him. The task he had been set, and the consequences that would befall the family had he not accepted. He emphasized that - through all of her little speech about curing Mulan and guarding Ching - the ancestor had failed to even mention Ching's tiny sibling.

"That's definitely peculiar," Ching said when he had finished. "Maybe she just forgot?"

"She was the one talking about seeing visions and whatnot, plus she's an ancestor spirit! There is no way that she could have forgotten something like the number of members in the current living family."

"I agree, she should know that," she said, trailing off a bit as she started to contemplate. "I mean, especially since she said the part about the families ceasing to exist. What could that mean for us?" Mushu noted the concern that graced her face as she said this, unsure as much as he was.

Ching had made her way around the room while thinking and had ended up back at the bed. She sat and Cri Kee-x hopped up to her, jumping onto her hand to get close to her.

Mushu had stretched out on the cushy window seat, his hands under his head, legs crossed so that one foot hovered over the edge. He cursed his absentmindedness when it suddenly slipped to the front of his head that he hadn't been planning on telling Cri Kee-x about this… and here he was discussing it with Ching right in front of him.

He rationalized that – being the sleep-prone little guy he was- Cri Kee-x might not have been paying any attention to the conversation, but he kinda thought that was giving him too little credit. The cricket did reside in the temple after all.

He didn't look in any way offended by not being included, although Mushu had never seen (nor thought he would ever see) him look offended by anything. Frightened or hurt possibly, but not offended.

He decided to ask him his views anyway, since as long as he was breaking his own promise he might as well let his friend contribute.

He saw Cri Kee-x rack his little mind almost as thoroughly as Mushu had racked his earlier, but just like Mushu Cri Kee-x came up short. Mushu saw him shrug even from his still lounging position on the cushion. Cri Kee-x confessed that he didn't know any more than they did. That all he knew was that he was summoned to wake Mushu that night, before that he had been out in the grass with his brothers and sisters.

He did say that he thought it was strange that he seemed to be the only one out of his family to notice when Grandma Fa summoned him, but he at least had known what to do from hearing old stories his own family told since around his first nymph stage.

After translating Cri Kee-x's words for Ching, she didn't answer right away. Mushu thought that the conversation might have ended, so he closed his eyes and allowed his mind to wander.

"Well, here's a question, why didn't _you_ know about him already?" he heard Ching ask from the other side of the room. His eyes slid open and gave him a glimpse of the ceiling, and when he turned his head he noticed that she was lying in a similar fashion across her bed with Cri Kee-x atop her chest (which Mushu assumed was the safest place for him to avoid being squashed).

"That would be because I was frozen in place and didn't know what was going on," he said, thinking it obvious.

"Yes, but wouldn't you have been able to tell what was going on somehow, to keep informed?"

"Not that I know of. It seems like they just wake you up when they feel like it, and fill you in then," Mushu said, still not sure if he was the best one to ask in this area, it was making him realize just how much he truly did not know. "Don't know how the other guardians feel about that."

"How many guardians are there?" she continued her questions in a conversational tone. At least this one he could answer for sure.

"Twelve that I know of in the temple," he said. He then wondered if ol' stoney was still there since he did recall seeing a new statue on his way to the house.

"And you don't have… meetings or anything like that?"

Mushu chuckled, wondering why this was all so interesting to her, but he was finding it kinda nice to be able to answer what he could. It was starting the wheels in his own head turning as well; perhaps he _should_ be pondering this stuff more than he had been.

"Nope. They might, for all I know, never met any of them," he said, but immediately after he said it he felt odd, like he knew that wasn't true. "At least, I don't think so."

"It's an awful lot not to know," Ching stated a bit bluntly. "If I were you, I'd be sure to ask first thing once we get home."

"Believe me, I will," he agreed. All this pondering was making him crave some answers, and the only way he knew to get them was to go to the source.

Maybe it wouldn't be first thing - he wanted to make sure Mulan would make a full recovery - but he wanted to be sure that he was much more informed on these matters. If he was going to be frozen in that kind of sleep he didn't like for another forty years, it would at least help if he knew why he had to.

It was a bit odd how he and Ching had managed to get on the same wavelength, but it was nice to have someone agree with him.

After this the conversation slowed and halted as the three drifted off to sleep. Mushu decided he was just too tired by this time to make it to the bed, instead choosing to merely make himself more comfortable where he lay on the cushy window seat.

* * *

_Author's Note: Ah, things are finally starting to get interesting again! Unfortunately, you'll have to wait another month for the next chapter. But don't worry; I'll be spending Nov. doing my own personal NaNoWriMo. Won't be trying to get to 50,000 words, but just get the last six chapters done, written, and ready to start posting for Christmas._

_I think we can all agree that this story has taken far too long to update, so it'll be great once I have accomplished this. And…I will. Might need some encouragement (maybe leave a bit in your reviews?) and some prodding (also in reviews?)._

_Thanks for sticking with me and being ever so patient. :-)_


	11. Chasing a Shadow

The sun had not quite risen when Mushu prodded his companions out of their cozy sleeps. Ching was harder to get up, since she must not have been keen on the idea of leaving a bed for more days sleeping on the ground. He managed it though with a few minutes prodding (and maybe a tiny bit of singeing one of Ching's toes).

Her cousins had already known of Ching's intentions to leave before dawn, and so were up even earlier than their usual times to see her off.

After dressing and collecting all of her things, Ching went to see them in their dining room. They had all waited until she was ready to go to say goodbye.

"It has been a pleasure," Shu said in the way all good hostesses do when seeing a guest off. Ching returned the sentiment, but things were not as stiff as they had been when she had arrived.

That was very true when it was Miki's turn. Abandoning all propriety bred into her, she wrapped Ching in a hug before Ching knew what was happening. She blinked several times, and then smiled, letting her arms return the hug as well.

"You'll have to return for the wedding," she said pleadingly when she had released Ching. Ching nodded, not exactly sure if she could keep that promise. She wanted to - now that she'd found an ally in Miki - but she needed to be sure of how the more recent future would turn out.

Ching wasn't sure if Ping was even going to grace her with his presence, but it seemed his own sense of duty to his guest trumped his own feelings towards Ching's family.

Mushu and Cri Kee-x had been finishing things up with the packing and had only managed to peek into the room to see Ching saying her goodbyes when Ping's was the last to give.

After the warm goodbye from Miki, the two women had gone back to their usual duties, which left Ping in the room with Ching. He inclined his head slightly in a somewhat bow. Ching returned it, going a bit lower than his bow to show the respect that Mushu wasn't quite sure he deserved.

It was in even greater question when Ping spoke after matching eyes with Ching. "Be sure to take care of your grandmother," he said with that same tone and smile he had used the other night. "Keep an eye on her, and enjoy her stories of 'heroism'."

So, he was still under the same impression about her family? He was still sticking with his feeling of superiority? It was enough to make Mushu rush up and pop that veiled smirk right off his face. Surprisingly, he found he didn't need to.

"Oh, I will. I always enjoy them," Ching answered, in her own fronted polite tone. "I just hope that your daughters will keep their eyes on you, and their ears closed for _your_ stories."

Mushu could see Ping's own demeanor falter for a moment, and Ching held his gaze for a moment before needing to turn away from him, presumably to hide her own smirk. She was able to spot Mushu from his hiding place and raised her shoulders in a very contained shrug. He nodded his approval, sharing in her small victory.

Shu returned again to see what she could help with once they had made it out to the stable. Pahlin was all saddled and loaded up, ready to leave, and Mushu used the time when Shu was speaking to Ching to hop back into the travel bag with Cri Kee-x in his arms.

"Please do take care," Shu said to Ching. Now that Mushu and Cri Kee-x were safely hidden, Ching climbed up onto Pahlin's back. "I am sure your mother would say the same."

Ching gave Shu a sincere smile. "She did, and I will."

It was a motherly thing to do, and Mushu supposed a fellow mother would feel obligated to say something like this when she knew that Yun was so far away.

Leaving under much better spirits than they thought they would, the group started off again on the road to Kin Xia.

After that rest, Mushu was confident they would get there quickly, and now that they were far enough down the road, he and Cri Kee could emerge.

"You know, that wasn't too bad," Mushu said, complimenting Ching for having words with Ping. She didn't quite give him the telling off he'd envisioned in his head, but she had done it in her own special, subtle way.

"It was much easier when it wasn't him," Ching admitted.

He supposed he could understand that, the guy really did not seem like the most demonstrative person to talk to, and he didn't even seem like he talked all that much either. Well, maybe more orders than conversations.

They shared a quiet chuckle, both glad to have that part out of the way and to be back on track. It was only when Ching had turned her attention back to the road in front of her that something she had said on that first night in the guest room came back to him.

He didn't say anything, but Mushu made the conclusion that Ching might have been so reluctant to say what she said to Ping for more reasons than she would willingly admit.

* * *

The traveling was going without a hitch so far. It had been a good three hours or so since leaving Miki's, with only a couple very short stops. The four of them (even Pahlin) seemed able to go for a while longer, and the weather was cooperating as well with its sunny and only slightly cloudy skies.

Little did they know that the way would not be as smooth soon, but for now everything seemed promising, if only a little dull.

Even when they camped for the night as the evening drew near things were still alright. They were well-stocked on food and were quicker than ever in assembling their tent.

There had not been all that much conversation as they had traveled, and what little there'd been had been light and hopeful, Mushu knew by now that Ching wasn't much of a talker when focused on the road but now that they were friendlier their silences were at least less tense.

Things remained in their hopeful and contented manner well after the last rays of the sun had fallen. Pahlin now rested next to the tent, not needing to be tied to anything. Ching was confident enough in her relationship with her horse to know that he wouldn't run away, and Mushu was pretty sure the horse still didn't like him enough to leave his owner completely in Mushu's care.

The night was warmer than the ones they'd recently spent outside, and that made a big difference to the wild crickets of the area. They chirped their disembodied evening tune almost completely in unison, filling the night with a two-note song that – while repetitive – did not get old.

Cri Kee-x had hopped off to join them when they had started, and neither Ching nor Mushu had seen him since. They couldn't distinguish their friend's chirping from the others, but they knew he couldn't be far. He would return when he got sleepy enough.

Indeed, the melodious insects were having a bit of a lullaby affect on everyone, that combined with a full day on the road. It didn't seem long before one of the two remaining beings called it a night and slunk to the tent, but for now they remained beside the tiny fire Mushu built that had now become a staple to their little campsite scene.

Ching had brought out a blanket, but since it hadn't turned that cold after the sun went down, she had spread it out and now sat down upon it. Mushu found a corner of it she did not need and placed himself there, seated to the right and slightly in front of Ching.

"Can you tell what they're singing about?" she asked curiously. Mushu had been enjoying the music as much as she was, but he hadn't actually been paying attention to what they were saying.

Listening for a few moments to the crickets' precise chirpings, he answered. "Different things, they're all singing their own songs. It'd be more irritating if they didn't all only know the two notes." He stopped to listen again. "But most of them mention the moon and the stars; they all seem real big on them."

Ching gave a considering 'hmm', moving her bleary eyes from the grass on the outskirts of the firelight to the sky above. "I suppose I don't blame them, they are pretty clear tonight."

They certainly were, Mushu noticed. He followed her gaze up through the light haze of smoke. The light from the fire was only vaguely obscuring them, and beyond that lay a smattering (really much more than a smattering) of stars, twinkling each in their own rhythm, just like the numerous crickets that surrounded them.

Mushu was a bit surprised at just how clear it really was, he doubted he had seen quite that many in a long time. He tried to remember when that had been, but felt a pang when it finally came to him. Mulan, back with her. It just seemed to keep coming back to her, possibly this was the universe reminding him of this journey's importance... and he didn't need it. It wasn't as if he didn't know.

Readjusting himself on his corner of the blanket, he noticed that it had been a little while since anyone had spoken. Ching looked preoccupied with her own thoughts, but she might have just been enjoying the quiet. Her eyes had moved back to the fire, and its reflection in them made them sparkle a bit in their own right.

"May I ask you something else?" Ching asked. Mushu thought he'd forgo the obvious 'you just did' answer and nodded, waving a hand for her to continue.

"Is there anything else you might know about guardians?" She still had that curious tone, and her face looked so innocent as she asked, it was almost childlike. He still had no idea why she found it so interesting, but it was keeping him pleasantly occupied.

"I don't know, not much else I guess. Mostly they seem to just sit there until they are called. If one of the ancestors wakes them up and sets them a task, they have to follow it. The waking up used to be my job, after a certain... accidental oversight."

"But everything worked out, and the end result is I'm here right now." _For how long though, that's the question._ He didn't say the last part out loud, but Ching's next question was in that area.

"So you sit there in the temple, I still don't understand how you aren't aware of anything. Like that you hadn't known about anything that happened in the intervening years."

"Like I said, I don't know about that part. It seems like we should." Mushu answered, feeling like he was more complaining now than answering her questions. "But you know, I still don't know exactly all the things that have gone on. You weren't that specific last time we had one of these little talks."

He gave her a searching look, and she blinked bemusedly. "It isn't like I'm hiding anything from you. I just wasn't exactly sure I should. I mean, at first I figured you were omniscient or something, or at the very least Grandfather would have told you. I didn't know the responsibility was placed on me to fill you in."

Her voice was heading towards defensive, and he could guess what she was adding in her mind just then.

She hadn't known that saving her grandmother's life was going to be her responsibility either. Things were getting a tad deep then, and while late at night might be a good time to have those types of conversations, the setting simply did not call for it. Especially when both members of the conversation were exceptionally beat.

"We can save the rest of this 'til tomorrow, if you want," Mushu said quietly. "It's not like we'll run out of time to talk about whatever we want."

Ching had been resting her eyes, but gave another unintelligible sound, this time of agreement. She opened them slowly. "I suppose you're right. I'm sorry about asking all these questions that I know you're still not sure of yourself. I just find it odd, almost like they're leaving you out on purpose. It's sort of unfair."

With that, she eased herself up off the blanket and began to gather it up and head towards the tent. Mushu hopped off his corner and was thinking about calling for Cri Kee-x when he heard her again from the tent, and what she said caused him to turn back and look at her properly.

"If you really want, I'll talk more about home tomorrow. _I_ won't leave you out, at least." She gave him an assuring smile, and then disappeared behind the flap.

And Mushu was grateful for that.

* * *

Since heading back on the road, the sleeping arrangements of the three seemed to have changed. After being given a spot on the bed when in the guest room, apparently no one thought anything of giving Mushu the permanent promotion of sleeping between Cri Kee-x's place in Ching's shoes, and Ching's own increasingly messed up tresses that went pretty much everywhere while she slept.

The shoes Ching wore were placed nose-adjacent only because they were Cri Kee-x's favorite sleeping spot, and since that became known, Ching had made a point of washing them every chance she got so they did not have the usual smelly shoe bouquet.

They were now on the far left front side of the tent, with Ching near the right side (where Pahlin slept just a thin sheet away) which left Mushu in the middle. His nest of an old towel was still there, only he had folded it into more of a rectangular cushion, having enjoyed the softness of the bed and the window seat.

Ching had fallen asleep quickly, and Mushu tried his best to wait for the one missing member of their sleepy trio (quartet if you counted Pahlin). As the minutes dragged on though, Mushu found the allure of sleep too much for him as well.

His dreams were just pictures, flashes of things he couldn't get a good look at before they had disappeared from sight and were replaced by something else. They were not the most restful of dreams, and so it was no surprise that Mushu's eyes fluttered open soon after enough of this.

He looked up at the canopy of cloth the top of the tent made. It fluttered slightly in a small breeze. He was still very tired and was in such a comfortable position that he was not sure he even could move if he tried. He could hear Cri Kee-x's sporadic snore-ish chirps, and the more awake portion of his brain acknowledged that he had made it in safely. That was good.

Mushu could also feel the slight breeze from Ching's nose as she breathed steadily, evidently untroubled by her own dreams. He was close enough that it brushed the back of his neck a bit, but for once each breath was perfectly silent.

Finding enough strength in his drowsy form, he attempted to turn to one side and therefore possibly coax sleep back to him, but this was when he felt something... an odd sensation around his tail, as if something had encased it.

His mind awake enough now to notice this, he lifted up slowly to inspect it. He blinked at what he saw. He could see only due to the combination of the moon's faint glow through the tent roof, and the fact that he happened to enjoy better-then-average sight in the darkness (a perk of being a dragon or a guardian, he wasn't sure which).

There - wrapped loosely around Mushu's slightly curled tail - was Ching's left hand.

Mushu felt a strange jolt when he saw it; he wasn't sure how to place it. He found himself frozen, unsure of whether he should move his tail or not. His eyes moved up her arm to see her face. One corner of her mouth twitched, and her right arm was tucked under her head, as one of them always needed to be attached to her head for her to be comfortable as she slept.

And she certainly did look comfortable Mushu thought - or he _would_ have if all thought had not quite suddenly and literally rushed out of his mind at that moment.

Once he did manage to get his mind going again, Mushu decided to attempt to ease his tail out of her gentle hold. As he began to move it though, he felt her fingers curl suddenly tighter, then slacken again. A knee-jerk reaction most likely, but one that caused that jolt he felt to return… reverberating off the walls of his insides.

After they loosened again, Mushu decided to forget about cautiousness and flipped his tail quickly out of her hand and place it safely around his leg before he could so much as breathe.

Laying his head back down facing away from Ching, the feeling in his chest died away gradually. It was just surprise most likely, something he hadn't expected… that was why he'd reacted the way he did, Mushu was sure.

This time sleep was harder to find for him, as he resolutely stayed in the same position for the rest of the night. He didn't trust that unusual sensation not to return if he moved any other way.

* * *

It was a muffled sound that woke him again, this time from a dreamless half-sleep. As usual his ear was the first thing to move, and as he opened his eyes he heard it again. It was very quiet, but slow and steady. It sounded like slow footsteps.

A shock completely different from the one from earlier came over him, this one clearly of unease and protectiveness. If there was someone outside, what could he do? Thinking fast Mushu gave Ching a few light but pointed kicks to wake her up and then hurried out of the tent.

Unfortunately, this proved the wrong thing to do.

Not only was he too late to do anything when he saw an unknown person quickly mounting Pahlin, but his presence in the dark – combined with Ching's sudden realization of what was happening culminating in her own plan of shouting loudly as she tried to scramble out of the tent herself – spooked both horse and thief. This ensured that Mushu was thoroughly trampled as the stranger rode off into the shadows.

Ching ran after them, and Mushu followed her. He knew she couldn't catch up to them, and deep down he knew that she knew it too, but both were in such confusion that they had no idea what else to do.

* * *

_Author's Note: Short again, but at least on time! A cliffhanger yes, and one that's supposed to feel quick and almost out of nowhere, exactly how the characters feel, caught off guard (yeah…that's it…)_

_Hope this one is as good as I'm hoping, there's a scene in there I've had in my head for a long time, and I want to come off the way I intended._

_In other news, Princess and the Frog is out today, so going to see that, as should you all when you get the chance : - )_

_Read and enjoy, everyone!_


	12. Need to Know

Ching dragged behind Mushu along the dirt road, Cri Kee-x resting on his head. It was dawn on of the third day since they had lost Pahlin, and while that evening's weather had been warm and comforting, the early morning light of this new day revealed a cold and misty land before them.

She had attempted to follow them through the night with Mushu close behind, but the thief had the advantage, and the two later returned to camp after what seemed like hours of fruitless pursuit.

Ching was more reluctant to return, but in the end she didn't require too much prodding. This concerned Mushu slightly, that dumb horse was her friend, after all.

So the three began walking, they knew that even with this severe blow to their journey, they could not stop now. They did not discuss it much, but there really wasn't that much conversation at all.

Mushu was finding her behavior somewhat hard to read. She just clammed up, almost like she had been when they had started from the Li's home. It couldn't be for the same reasons though, and he did know that she might need some time to mourn for Pahlin… but why did she have to be so introverted about it? It wasn't like it was _her_ fault he got stolen. If anything it was _his_.

Wasn't_ he_ the one with the exceptional hearing? He should have been able to hear that thief before he got anywhere near Pahlin. Mushu didn't make it a secret that he disliked the horse, but he had to admit he was useful. It had been hard going the last two days (now going on three).

Now that they were on foot it would more than likely take even longer to get to Kin Xia, and then there was the problem of what they were gonna do about the way back.

He didn't bring any of this up with her, however. She wasn't volunteering any ideas, and with the way she was shuffling behind him, he didn't wonder if she were pondering these things too.

Cri Kee-x had been attempting to keep up the morale, trying to encourage his friends and instill some hope that they would get there soon. He even – once Mushu had filled him in on what had happened – said it seemed to him that they really did all they could, and he went on to point out that Mushu had attempted to protect them, which was in-keeping with his duties as a guardian. Mushu hadn't thought about that, but he still took little comfort in it.

He supposed he was glad there was at least one member of the group whose spirits could not be dampened by such unfortunate events, buuut since he had been walking for over two days while carrying the little optimist he didn't think it would be such a terrible thing if Cri Kee-x would shut up for just a little bit.

Despite Cri Kee-x's efforts however, the growing frustration and desperation could not be kept away for very long. It was only when they stopped for a short rest around midday that things even started feeling like they would turn around, and even at first it didn't seem like it.

Both Mushu and Ching seemed to stop at the same time, but while he plopped down fairly easily on the side of the road, Ching nearly collapsed as she threw her bag down. It made a heavy thunking sound as it landed near enough to narrowly avoid smacking the dragon in his face with the strap.

Ching flumped to the ground with such force that her skirt poofed up around her, which caused her to take out some of her frustration by flattening it back down animatedly with her hands.

Somehow this unusual action seemed to help her, she let out a long sigh, wiping sweat from her forehead and moving wayward strands of hair from her face.

Cri Kee-x chirped his concern for her, hopping off of Mushu's head and allowing him to enjoy the sensation of no little feet tickling his ears.

He would have just answered his friend by telling him that she was fine, but was then struck with the thought that this could at least get her to say something.

He inched awkwardly closer to her, and cleared his throat to announce his presence.

"…Cri Kee-x wants to know if you're okay," it came out pointed, though he had tried to make it conversational, like there had only been a slight dip in dialogue instead of days. He didn't manage to disguise his own concern very well either.

She didn't answer at first, and Mushu was half-expecting her not to at all.

"Why was it us that had to do this?" She asked in a hollow, bewildered sort of way. "You and me, I mean…maybe they made a mistake. In fact I'm pretty sure they did."

"When Grandma Fa told you about how this would be, did she say anything about this? Did_ this_ come up at all?" A harsher tone was creeping back into her voice, but he didn't feel as if it were directed towards him.

"No," Mushu answered hesitantly, "but…"

"Than maybe they were wrong to put this to me. I didn't ask for this, and I can't help thinking my father should have gotten his way. He made this big case of why he should do it instead, and I know _he_ would not have let this happen."

So Mushu was right, Ching was nurturing her own unearned feelings of blame.

He didn't really know what to say, he wasn't in that much of a pep-talk mood. Of course none of this was her fault, he knew that. He thought she was crazy for even considering it, but he didn't think saying that would help anything.

"Now, even if we get there, it will take us even longer to get home… and then it probably won't even matter."

He slowly made it into her line of sight, crossing the halo her skirt made around her.

"Then…we'll…just have to pick up the pace, and figure something out when we get there. "

He gave her as reassuring a smile as he could, and started brushing dirt off his hands. She stared at him, perplexed. What, did she expect more?

"Hey, the ancestors know what they're doing; they wouldn't have told me it was you unless you really were the only one who could. You may be beating yourself up about it, but you didn't just turn around and start for home. After that guy stole the horse, I wouldn't have blamed you, but you didn't say a word. You kept heading for that dumb town. If you were really gonna give up, it woulda been back then. Not quite sure they were wrong."

There we go, pep talk given, Mushu hoped that helped. He had meant what he'd said; it had been pretty strong of Ching to just keep going like that. What could he say, she loved Mulan and didn't want to let her family down, he could relate.

So both of their pity parties were coming to an end, Cri Kee-x chirped his enthusiasm when he saw Mushu smile, which slowly affected Ching as well.

She gave a nod and began to stand up. It was at that moment that something passed between them, Mushu and Ching now understood each other more than they had ever done since they had first met.

It was an unspoken understanding – almost like a bond – they may have gotten off track, but between them they had twice as much incentive to see this journey through.

* * *

Mushu was about as glad as Cri Kee-x was to have Ching speaking full sentences again. The cricket had gotten his wish; they felt more determined than ever. It might have been a bit unwarranted, since they were still a few days walk from Kin Xia, but at least the company was infinitely more hopeful.

If one truly good thing was to come out of Pahlin being stolen (and it was pretty much the _only_ thing) it was that the three of them had to rely more upon each other. This strengthened their sense of comradery. The whole third day afterwards Mushu had noticed the positive change.

The day was still cloudy, but the wind didn't feel as cold as they made their way down the dirt road. Thinking of Cri Kee-x, Ching carried one of her shoes in her hand, so his chosen form of bed would not be covered in the soil of the day's travels.

Cri Kee-x would sometimes hop along on his own, but he just couldn't keep up with the others for long periods, so he would alternate riding on Mushu's head and Ching's shoulder.

Mushu was able to keep up on his own, though Ching might not have been too disagreeable to the idea of him riding on her shoulder if he too grew tired.

Things even lightened up for a round or two of their spying game, and since they were all moving at about the same pace, they could enjoy it better and not encounter the same problems that had caused the aggravation the last time.

Evening came quickly however, and the three stopped again for another night's rest. Mushu was exhausted when the time came to set up the tent again, but they managed.

After the things were in order, everyone would probably have just crawled inside, but the inclination to remain in their usual routine prevailed, and a small fire was made.

The three were also getting pretty hungry. They had the good sense to ration the food, but it was running very low, down to only the least perishable items.

In fact when Cri Kee-x reappeared at the fire side with his own grassy meal, Ching peered into the bag in a forlorn sort of way.

"Well, this is the last of it," she told Mushu as she handed him the sole slightly stale bun. "I'm not sure where we're going to find some more food."

That was something Mushu hadn't thought about either. Their best luck would be to either find a house to possibly ask for something from or with hope actually be able to make it to town before they all passed out from hunger pains. Well, he and Ching, but Cri Kee-x would be no help.

That wouldn't be for lack of trying, he had a short mental image of his insect friend trying to drag his own lifeless form across the road. It was only a little amusing…less funny due to it being an actual possibility at this time.

"I don't suppose you hunt for food, do you?" he heard Ching ask only half seriously.

Mushu was less offended than he would normally have been – and much less so than the last time she had said something like this, calling attention to his animal-ness. It was a testament to their stronger friendship… and perhaps a little bit of hunger fatigue.

He gave her a look with which he meant to say 'you must be kidding', and the message was received.

"I'm just asking," she said apologetically. "I'm not sure what is even out there that would be the least bit good to eat anyway."

The memory of that similar time seemed to be playing in Ching's head as well, because it wasn't long until the conversation turned back to things silently pondered by both, and things that were promised would be discussed.

"So… how _did _my grandmother see you? How exactly _did _you help her?" She asked.

"You mean, you'd never heard about me? Er- I mean, about her story?" Mushu asked, flubbing the question but still bewildered that her own descendant wouldn't have heard of all that Mulan had done.

"No, I have," she said, pulling her knees close to her and resting her chin on them, hands clasped around her legs. "It's just…hard to tell where you really come in. For the longest time I thought the same as my father. That you were an invention she had made that symbolized something I never got."

"So, she never went too in-depth with it?"

"I was lucky to get what I could from her; my father didn't much like her telling me about them, but it's not like I still didn't hear them around. Or that Grandma's ideas or way of looking at things hadn't already affected the family, and even the families of others, like my maternal grandparents."

"I know you said that your dad was of a similar mind as that Ping guy, but I don't really wanna believe it, how can there be two guys that jerkish?

He heard Ching give a soft laugh, probably wondering as he was if 'jerkish' were a real word.

"He's not…exactly the same as Cousin Ping, he simply holds almost as much in the traditional ways. He at least accepts Grandmother, and loves her in his own way."

It was the same kind of answer she had given back at Miki's, attempting to justify while at the same time not agreeing with it.

Mushu had finished his small portion of the food, and Cri Kee-x hadn't had any, choosing to enjoy some tiny bits of the greenery. Ching poked at hers, but at least she didn't seem as moody.

"My father never knew Grandmother while she was fighting," she said plainly. "She hadn't actually been in a real battle for a while when he was born, but she was still relied upon by the emperor whenever he called for her. After she gave birth to him though, she wasn't sure that was wise anymore."

"Grandfather was a general and her own parents were getting on in years – this was around the time Grandma Fa passed on – so there was a question of who was to stay and care for him. She couldn't rely on her parents forever, and sadly these thoughts came at a time when she was receiving some backlash for her actions. Of course people heralded her as a champion just after she had saved so many. They could forgive her transgressions at the start, but once the war was over and she was still being called upon to aid the emperor – even though it had been years since she really would have considered herself a 'soldier' – people started to resent her status.

They thought that once she had done what she set out to do that she should have stopped, and at the very least when she got married. She did try way back when, she politely turned down a council position, because she did understand that she really only wanted to prove something to herself, as well as her father. She still felt a duty to her [country] however, and that was why she came when the emperor called. Other people just did not seem to see that.

So it was those reasons that drove Grandmother to completely cease her services. My father grew up with the stories on both sides of the argument of her. The stories did get stretched to almost myth-like status, so I'm sure it was hard for him to believe some of them. I know it was hard for me sometimes."

She ended with an almost apologetic air, as if trying to say that – having now met him – she believed some of the stories much more so.

So Mushu finally knew what Shang had been so reluctant to tell him, and he supposed he understood why even if it would've been easier than having his granddaughter inform him when he was days away.

They'd been having a lot of conversations like this – the two of them – he noticed. This was the first time he'd really felt up to speed however, and it took him a while afterwards to remember that this is what he had really wanted out of her going in on this trip. It baffled him how he had been so hard up for information at the start… but in the end she gave it willingly. She'd even done it without any real prodding, to make him feel better.

_I just find it odd, almost like they're leaving you out on purpose. It's sort of unfair, he_ recalled her saying. _I won't leave you out, at least_

And boy did she not. Knowing now the reasons why Mulan had left the army, Mushu felt that Deshung's attitude towards her was even more unwarranted. She gave up a whole lot to be his mother; he shouldn't have even given those other people a second consideration.

His expression must have shown the amount of informational overload he was having, because then Ching did something she had never done before.

She took hold of his hand and a reflection of that reassuring smile he had given her on multiple occasions played across her lips. His claws looked so small held within her fingers, and with her other hand she lightly stroked his head and down the length of his spine.

It only lasted for a moment, but it was enough to bring Mushu's mind back to that night Pahlin was taken, and that tail-holding business. He still had not mentioned it to anyone, yet it felt almost like a subconscious copy of what she had done in her sleep.

There was that jolt again, the same kind that had so alarmed and confused him. He felt awkward as he returned the smile, with this jump inside his chest like this, this odd…frisson. He almost pulled his hand out of hers because of it, but by the time he'd thought of it she'd already lifted her hand away.

Nothing funny like this seemed to be going on in her end. She looked like she felt perfectly normal, if tired from all the walking (which was normal for all of them these days). She was trying to be comforting when she saw how bothered he was after hearing these revelations about the family, and her friendly gesture of human contact would have comforted him if it weren't for that reverberating frisson.

Presumably leaving him alone with his thoughts, Ching bade him goodnight soon after that and went off to the tent and to sleep ("Um, we can talk about it more tomorrow I suppose'). He wasn't sure if he had actually returned the goodnight verbally or if it hadn't found its way out of his head.

They really were all closer – he thought – he couldn't remember her ever actually touching him consciously in any capacity before. Was that what had struck him so speechless like that? A part of him was glad of it as he had been with all the other signs of Ching's blossoming openness. There was another part though, that alerted him this had felt much differently than the friendly platonic bonding the three of them had enjoyed today.

It was this side of himself that Mushu decided to listen to in the end, or a least try to. Like it had the other night, he was convinced that this frisson would die away slowly. It was taking a lot longer this time though, as his mind strayed back to when he'd given her his reluctant pep-talk, and how she looked the last time they had talked about her family compared to today. She had progressed a great deal, he thought. She still had a ways to go though.

He noticed he was spending a lot more nights like this, thinking about her. That smile she had given him…he always did seem to notice her smiles.

But… this was natural, he rationalized. Ching was his guarded one, and so as a rule he _should _be thinking about her, about what she still needed to complete her physical and emotional journeys. She did still need him, and Mulan still needed them both, he could never lose sight of that. Not ever.

That night Mushu opted to sleep outside under the could-veiled stars as he had done before. He hoped maybe it would help him get his thoughts together, and away from the frisson that had settled into a fair-sized pit in his stomach.

* * *

_Author's Note: My only real fears for this chapter are that it might be too rushed and not descriptive enough. Soooo pretty much he same concerns I've had for the whole way through. Can my fears be assuaged? Only a review from you will be able to tell me! (ok, sorry about that) At least I have a good bit of the next ch. done, and it won't require so much of an overhaul if things go well. Hope you enjoyed thissun' and the story as I (sporadically) upload it._


	13. Once Removed

It took some doing, but Mushu was able to ease himself into sleep by steering his thoughts to the pressing matter of food. There was not anything to be done at this moment, but contemplating as he was curled up with his eyes closed was something. They couldn't have been more than another day or two – if that – from town, and since they were so close there had to be at least one small house with some friendly people willing to give supplies to a weary young girl seemingly traveling alone.

Thinking of more practical things seemed to be working. Focusing his mind on food would probably not help him later on when he was starving, but for now it was doing a good job into tricking the pit in his stomach into ceasing for while – at least enough to drift off by.

His dreams that night flashed again, but more lucidly than the ones before. They soon slowly melded into flashes of color streaking by him at breakneck speed. The figures had shapes of some sort, but passed by him too fast to get a good look.

The streaks were all heading in the same direction he was, towards what might have been the light at the end of a very long tunnel. Compared to the racing figures, Mushu might not have been moving at all. This troubled him, and made him wonder why he was moving along so slow. But – as most dreams go – he could find no logic in it, and it ended abruptly as he awoke. It was morning, and it appeared that yet again he was the first one up. He shivered from the cool of the early morning, and shook himself free of the dew that had collected on him. That happened the last time he slept outside too.

He didn't mention his dream to the others when it was time to move again, most of the details were slowly dissipating anyway, so all he had of it were the feelings they had stirred. These feelings of loneliness and exclusion of course weren't exactly the best.

They had not yet found a farm or house where they could see about a meal, but they still soldiered on. Ching was carrying both of the smaller two on her shoulders, kicking a rock along with her left foot as she went.

Cri Kee-x chirped for some assistance from Ching's other shoulder, and Mushu looked across to see him struggling to free two of his legs from a section of Ching's hair that had somehow gotten tangled around them.

Ching seemed to notice at the same time Mushu had, and reached up to free him.

"Oh I'm sorry, let me get it," She apologized to Cri Kee-x. It was a bit difficult for her to see, but she managed to untangle him.

"I'm thinking putting it up would be better for now, I was wondering what that was," she sad as she lightly as she searched through her bag for a ribbon of some sort.

"I should say so," Mushu joked along with her. Cri Kee-x was fine, but it seemed her hair when down could make a nuisance of itself.

It was getting closer and closer to noon as Ching secured her locks as they continued to walk – none felt they had time for stopping just to get her hair perfect – and they were now entering an expanse of wooded area which would give momentary shade to the three as the sun got warmer.

"Do you know anyone who's died?" Ching asked Mushu out of the clear blue.

He found this humorously obvious. "Sure, I'm surrounded by them every day," he said thinking about all those stiffs back at the temple.

"That's not what I meant," she corrected. "I mean, has anyone you've known –were close to – have you ever lost anyone?"

This was another question altogether, and not as funny. He was frustrated with himself because – as he wracked his brain – he found it was another question he could not answer.

"I don't know, I can't remember any."

"Well, what can you remember?" she asked him, seeming to echo his own dissatisfaction at his memory.

There seemed to be large expanses of time he couldn't recall, but until this trip he'd never bothered with why that since he woke up this new time, he felt like he was missing something, or missing a whole lot.

This feeling had probably been there during Deng's and Mulan's times too, but he just didn't realize until he started actually asking the questions. He had this slowly strengthening suspicion that there was all this stuff he should know… he should for some reason he just couldn't.

He didn't remember his birth or his parents...though he must have had them. The farthest back he could remember honestly was his best friend from childhood.

"Ping," he answered finally.

"Only a few days ago?" Ching asked confusedly, thinking of her cousin.

"No, not _that_ jerk, my best friend Ping. The one whose name your grandmother ended up using."

"Oh, and when was that?"

Mushu shrugged, "I don't know, probably a long time ago. I don't even know what happened to him after Yingtao."

"Yingtao?" Ching asked. She – of course – had no idea about that part of his life, Mushu had only ever told Mulan about it, and that was just in passing.

He swung his legs and tail to lie over the side of her shoulder to stretch them out, which caused him to sit a bit awkwardly, and which mirrored the mood that this topic had stirred up.

"That would be the girlfriend he stole from me," he said. This caused both Ching and Cri Kee-x to give him an inquiring look (which was pretty hard for Ching to pull off with them on her shoulders).

Well, we both liked her," he answered their looks. "I remember that, but not much else. He ended up with her though, that I know. So maybe that counts as a loss n a way, but I know it's not the type you meant."

He could tell what she was thinking about, even if she was trying to be all flippant and nonchalant about asking, but with their current mood and progress he felt it would be just as counter-productive to think about their failure as if she had stopped to do her hair.

Of course had he known about the next big block in the road, he would have let her stop to give herself a full makeover for all the extra time used up

* * *

Mushu and Cri Kee-x watched the dappled light of late afternoon shine through the trees change as they passed each one, starting to make a game out of finding certain shapes when Mushu thought he heard something a bit far off. He wasn't sure if he had even really heard it or if he'd imagined it.

He wasn't sure what it had been, but he didn't think about it at first since Cri Kee-x had just earned two more points for another flower-shaped shadow.

He was now in the lead, and Mushu sharpened his gaze back down to the ground to look for more shapes with higher points.

"Ooh, there's a crescent moon one, three points!"

Cri Kee-x asked to see where, and he hopped over to Mushu's side to make sure.

Ching had been trying to tune them out, but it was another game they had invented themselves that had been going on a _bit _too long.

"Ok you two, maybe we can take a break on this game as well? Besides, isn't it pretty much the same thing as that spying game? And the cloud-shape game?"

"Hey don't look at me, Cri Kee-x keeps coming up with them," Mushu said simply, pointing to him as he went back to Ching's other shoulder.

He then said that he was also beating Mushu in them all, which Mushu did not really want to translate for her.

It was then that Mushu heard it again, a more distinct snort unmistakably from a horse. But, it couldn't be their lost member... it must have been just wishful thinking on his part, which was weird because he didn't think he would 'wish' for that horse's company (other than as transportation, he had to give Pahlin that).

Cri Kee-x had heard it too, although Ching had not, and he chirped if they should possibly check it out.

"Nah, it could be anybody. No reason to get all excited and get off course now," He tried to assuage his friend.

But of course, Ching had heard that. "What are you two---", she was saved the trouble of asking when a long neigh followed by a louder snort came from slightly further down (and most likely off the trail). Her eyes widened.

"Did you hear that?" she asked them, a cautious elation clearly rising in her.

At first Mushu tried to brush it off as he had with Cri Kee-x, almost wanting them to be disappointed so that they could move on, but then they all heard him again, and there was no confusing it this time, he recognized that whinny immediately as Pahlin's.

.

Now he was the one that was disappointed, at least a little bit. If they'd found him that was great for Ching and for shortening the trip, but he wasn't looking forward to more verbal jabs and possible foot-stampings.

"Well, is it him?" Ching asked with an eagerness that had grown immensely since her last sentence.

Cri Kee-x jumped with a positive chirrup, and Mushu nodded. Ching didn't even see the small amused smile that unexpectedly came to Mushu's face for a second at seeing her so excited, because at his nod she had all but sprinted in the direction the sound had come from. This of course nearly knocked the two of them off her shoulders.

Thankfully only a little ways off the trail – but in a much more thickly-vegetated area than the surrounding small patch of woods – they did indeed find him. Pahlin, whom they thought they had lost possibly forever.

He was tied up to a small tree next to a rinky-dink camp (even smaller than how there's usually looked). He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them. He had apparently heard them passing by and was attempting to call to them.

He wasn't sure that they would hear him – or if the annoying lizard would even recognize that it was him.

"Heh, shows what you know," Mushu called back to Pahlin. "You know I could've just let her walk by ya know."

Pahlin rolled his eyes which was all he could do. He probably didn't feel like retorting as Ching had rushed up to hug him around his neck.

It was good that he seemed to have missed her as much as Ching had missed him, and that had been a lot Mushu knew. Seeing this happy reunion between them made his annoyance at Pahlin giving him such a back-door insult ebb by a respectable few degrees.

After the hug Ching began to try and free Pahlin from his tether quickly and quietly, but of course the quiet part was in vain, since all the neighing had alerted someone inside the ragged tent.

She tried to double her efforts as she heard him coming out, and Mushu and Cri Kee-x ducked into a shrub on the opposite side of the clear space from Pahlin.

"Hey, what are you doing!" the stranger shouted at her when he got close enough.

This was when Ching decided to abandon her attempts at undoing the knots and stomped up to meet him as he rushed to her horse's side.

"I am taking back what is mine," she said with such sternness she didn't need to shout.

"What's yours?" the boy repeated confusedly. He looked still like a boy to Mushu. A young man possibly, though not as pumped-up as one who had been in training for the army or something. But maybe strength wasn't always needed in thievery, for he was lean enough to possibly hide well, that must help in his criminal endeavors.

He didn't even have long hair tied up like that of a soldier – or even a regular man - it was short and scraggly. Dirty too, as was most of him.

"Yes, you stole him, I found him again, so I'm taking him back," she said, a bit more anger rising in her voice, she even looked a bit offended at his apparent offense at this accusation.

"I did not," he claimed predictably, an almost-convincing act, Mushu thought.

"Do you really expect me to believe that, when I find _my_ horse tied up next to _your_ camp?"

Mushu was looking just as stern as Ching was, even from his hiding place. The evidence was really stacked against this kid, and he still wouldn't admit it.

"Alright, alright!" he seemed to cower under her stone-cold glare. _Man, Ching can be scary if she wants to be. _Mushu found himself thinking.

"I did steal him. But I _swear_ to you on my mother, sister, father, and any ancestor you want me to name that I did _not_ steal your horse from you."

"And how does that work?" Ching asked, not convinced.

"I've seen a few men around these parts. They've stolen from just about everyone who comes through here. They hide out and I've watched them."

"So you stole from _them_?"

"Yes...but I don't do it like them. I would never steal from anyone unless I needed something, they don't seem to care what they take. I also only steal when I know they stole it first."

"But, that's the same thing," she said, dropping some of her scariness.

"No it isn't. It's 'once removed'. Stealing from a thief doesn't make me one too. If someone buries treasure and I find it that's not stealing because whoever stole it is long gone."

"That's not 'once removed', it comes to the same thing," Ching walked right past him and took hold of the rope that tied Pahlin. She patted his neck and he moved his head to nuzzle her affectionately.

"You see this? This isn't some buried treasure, this is somebody's something. He's a living creature too. You just can't say that what you did isn't just as wrong as what the original thief did."

"It's _because_ he's an animal that I took him," he said as he tried to pull back together the defense she had walked through. "They've taken animals before, and believe me you would much rather I take him then them."

"Well, aren't you the concerned animal lover?" Mushu whispered sarcastically from the bushes. Cri Kee-x shushed him, and they kept watching.

"That still doesn't make it right," Ching said, but her tone and face had softened, possibly in a form of gratitude.

"I know," he answered with reserve. He walked over to where she stood with Pahlin. "I did need him though. I was gonna ride him to the next town and sell him. I'm pretty low on just about everything."

He quickly retracted his statement when her look began to sharpen once more. "Obviously I won't anymore!" he raised his hands to back off any more harsh words. "Since I've found the rightful owner – or she's found me – you can have him back of course."

Mushu thought that should have gone without saying, but it didn't seem to him like keeping something from its rightful owner was exactly beyond this guy.

"How did you even get here without him?' the boy asked, trying to start a new topic.

Ching answered, but still looked unsure of how to take in this strange thief of thieves.

"I walked."

"All by yourself? Were you separated from your party when he was stolen?"

"Yes on the first, and I'm traveling...alone," she didn't know if she should reveal this little detail, for of course this is how it would appear to him. She stole a miniscule glance to Mushu's hiding place as if for confirmation that this was alright.

This boy seemed taken aback. He looked like he thought she was just as strange as she was thinking he was. "How long have you been traveling?"

"Just over a week," she answered, finally taking her hands from Pahlin's mane much to Pahlin's dismay. "It would have been shorter if I'd had my horse. I'm sure the return journey will be much quicker."

_It needs to be_, thought Mushu. He bet she'd added that in her mind as well.

"Than you're quite lucky having your horse stolen was the only unfortunate thing to befall you. I mean, a beautiful young girl traveling along all by herself and camping in areas frequented by so many shady individuals."

_Like you, maybe?_ Mushu wondered.

"I'm doing just fine, I assure you. I believe I am actually just outside of my goal. Kin Xia is not far, is it?" Ching asked him, ignoring the compliment he'd woven into his words.

"No, it's not....," he answered slowly, as if thinking about not verbalizing what he was about to. "However, having now met you, I wouldn't feel right if I let you ride off unaccompanied. Let me come with you."

The boy was a few steps closer, now between where Mushu and Cri Kee-x hid and where Ching still stood next to Pahlin. Mushu caught her eye and mouthed 'NO WAY'.

He seemed to take her looking away from him as a sign of deliberation.

"It would only be until we reach the town. Now that I have nothing to sell, I should maybe look for work there."

_Or for more things to steal_, Mushu continued to comment in his mind.

"I promise I will just see you safely there, and that whatever business you have there goes well...or at least that you reach it."

He was now close enough to pet Pahlin's backside, and Mushu was half-expecting the horse to give him a fair kick, but he waited in vain.

Now Ching was indeed deliberating. If this boy was to be trusted, than it might help to have him around if only just for another day, she at least saw no harm in it (Mushu did though). There also didn't seem to be any avoiding him, since if she were to take Pahlin and leave now he could always just follow, since now he knew where she was going.

Also since they were moving into a much more populated area, having him with them might help with appearances. Her cousins were one thing- and Ping had probably commented at some point about it anyway when she wasn't around – but it was a bit unheard of for a strange girl to come into a town from so far on her own.

"Fine," she answered assuredly but still fairly sharp. This made the boy smile, and made Mushu look like he might shout.

"What!?" he shouted, unable to control himself.

"What about what?" the boy asked her, somehow seeming to think that the outburst had come from her.

"Uh, what...about sleeping arrangements?" she covered for Mushu doubly by asking and keeping the boy from realizing that the voice had come from slightly behind him.

"Ah," he said, understanding what she meant and suddenly deciding to have a good look at Pahlin's hooves. "No need to worry about that. I have my own tent. You can use it if you like and I'll gladly sleep outside."

"I have _my_ own tent," she stated without quite as much embarrassment he had.

"That's good," he said looking up again. "I don't think we would even need to worry about that except that it's getting dark now."

"I suppose so," Ching said, not really sure what to say now. It did all seem settled.

"Oh, I should introduce myself," the boy said quickly after a small silence. "My name is Kuo."

"Ching Lan," she returned his belated greeting with her own name.

Kuo smiled again. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Ching Lan. Now that we're on slightly better terms, you can go ahead and rest for a while, put your tent up and make yourself at home." He gestured over to the meager camp he had erected.

Ching chose to place her things down next to where Pahlin was tied up. She then decided to finish her earlier job undoing the rope keeping him there as well.

"What are you doing that for?" he asked, trying to stop her.

"He won't run. He never runs from where I am," she answered. Then considering the recent events, she added, "If he can help it."

"Well, he runs from me. Those thieves had him tied up too; he'd buck and kick at them. Ever since I took him he hasn't tried to hurt me, but at every opportunity he keeps trying to escape."

While he was talking, Ching had freed Pahlin and - to Kuo's amazement - he stayed where he was.

She patted him again, and looked back over to Kuo. She shrugged. "He likes me. My family has that problem too. Although he doesn't kick and buck at them."

"Speaking of Pahlin, I am still the only one that will be riding him, correct? You'll just walk alongside." She turned that last part of her question into a statement, as if knowing she was right and only wanting confirmation.

Kuo shook his head hesitantly. "No, we'd both have to ride him. You do want to get there tomorrow, yes?"

She nodded.

"Than that's the fastest way."

While they were talking Mushu and Cri Kee-x were able to move silently a bit closer, now hiding close to the sapling that had tethered Pahlin.

Mushu didn't like this new part of the deal any more than he had the rest of it. He took the opportunity of Kuo beginning to start a fire to whisper up to Ching.

"So he's riding with you too? And just where are _we_ supposed to go while sticky-fingers is in our spot?"

She looked down at them apologetically. "You'll just have to ride in my bag."

"What was that?" Kuo asked, looking back to her from the twigs that were only lightly smoking.

"Uh... I said, 'Do you think you have any food because I have none in my bag.' I realize you said you were almost out of everything you needed—"

"No, I'm sure I have enough left for tonight at least," he interrupted as he stood quickly and awkwardly made his way to where they assumed he stored his food.

"Well, at least he's being accommodating for a thief," Mushu had to admit, although he was still not going to trust him too much just yet. There was something about him that just irked him, and Mushu was not even totally convinced that his story about bigger, badder thieves was on the level.

"Thief or not, at least he didn't hurt Pahlin," Ching said reprovingly. "He seems to have taken good care of you, huh?" She asked the horse. Now that things were straightened out she could now enjoy having her dear equine friend again.

"It could always be worse," she added to Mushu.

"Oh, look who's looking on the bright side now?" he said, but however he did not like nor trust this new addition to the group; it did make him feel better to see her standing up for herself so well.

When she was finished visiting with her once-lost Pahlin, Ching walked closer to where Kuo was to help him with making the fire.

Mushu assumed that – now there was a non-immediate family mortal around – he would now be confined to the tent at least until Kuo was asleep. So he stayed beside Pahlin, ready to help Ching with the tent as much as he could without the boy seeing.

Cri Kee-x beamed proudly beside him; apparently he had taken Kuo's words about Ching being 'lucky' to heart.

"Hey, don't let it go to your head. We _did_ lose our ride for a while don't forget," Mushu said, but really only half-serious.

Cri Kee-x responded with something like 'don't harsh my buzz," and hopped gleefully in pursuit of Ching. For he was small enough as to avoid

detection.

* * *

_Author's Note: We are sooo close and yet so far. I swear to you, this is close to the last chapter, possibly two more to go. Even if it's an abrupt smushed-together end, I AM finishing this story soon!_

_I'm relatively happy with thissun', hope you are too. I think I might be losing site of what kind of dinosaur I'm making, what do you all think? Do you still feel like this story has a point? Are the pieces coming together to make the dino skeleton I'm wanting? Do we know what I'm talking about and where I got this analogy?_

_Well, thanks for putting up with my procrastination and writer's blockage, anyway. :-)_


	14. I stopped the horse!

They didn't have much in the way of food. Kuo seemed to have just about enough for himself, but between two people (with Ching sneaking some to Mushu) it was a bit of a stretch.

The various dried vegetables and breads were mixed into a slurry-type soup. It was the best they could do for presentation with so little ingredients.

"So, why is it that you're traveling so far on your own?" Kuo asked to try and break the long silence that was only occasionally permeated by the slurping of soup.

"When did you begin to delve into a life of thievery?" Ching deflected his question with one of her own, and is an as even a tone..

He looked less offended than the last time she'd called him a thief, but he did make a similar specification as before.

"Not a real thief, remember? I only steal from them. I try to get honest work when I can, but I try not to stay in one place too long."

This peaked her curiosity, so she ignored his glance of invitation, waiting to be asked.

"Why would that be?"

Since Ching had given him such an abridged version of her story, he seemed to do the same. "Well, that's just in case anyone might be looking for me. Those certain individuals whom I have stolen from, and… others."

This time he waited again to be asked, but she had caught on, and merely emptied her soup bowl.

He obliged after a moment. "You see I… sort of voluntarily left my service in the army without proper consent. Namely, I ran off. I couldn't hack it, no matter what I did I just didn't seem to have the stuff they required. So I left before they could kick me out and/or I got myself killed. I would have gone home, but I knew the only thing that waited for me there was my father's dissapointment. I suppose you wouldn't know how it is, but fathers place an awful lot on their sons, military fathers even more so."

Ching nodded without thinking. She may not know exactly about these things, but a version of it.

"So, I decided to make a new life for myself, and so far it's worked out famously. I found a way to live a semi-honorable life in a slightly-dishonorable fashion."

She gave an almost inaudible scoff at the words '_slightly_-dishonorable'.

He set his own bowl down and looked back across the fire to her. "I stick by my belief that my actions are in a gray area in terms of what's right. It would be crazy to try and stop those that steal, so getting things I need by giving them some of their own medicine feels right to me, and so it is. In it's own way."

There was his strange logic again, the justification of how he was living. Ching hadn't guessed about his leaving the army - she hadn't given much thought to the possibility that Kuo had known any life but what she had seen upon meeting him, for it seemed he'd been camping and being 'slightly dishonorable' for some time.

She had never heard of anyone leaving the army of their own volition before. True some soldiers were forced home due to injury, but never one deserting completely.

"Don't you think that they might have sent you home anyway? You might have asked, or they could have sent you back if they thought you weren't ready," Ching pondered.

Kuo considered this, but then shook his head. "I still would have had my father at home. No, my only choice was to leave."

"But, would it have been so bad?"

"Yes, I believe so. You have parents, don't most parents have certain expectations for their children? " he asked, and Ching had to concede that that was true.

"yes, typically…' she trailed off. She wasn't sure she was the best person to talk to about parental expectations, since her own upbringing had been so mixed with the wants for her that her parents had and the hopes her grandparents had for her.

"I don't know anything about you, but how I and my sister were raised seemed pretty typical. Girls raised to be wives, boys raised to be soldiers. There just seemed very few variations to choose from. But now there's almost too much freedom, I enjoy and relish in the fact that I can go really anywhere."

* * *

It was only slightly a coincidence that the pair hidden away inside the tent fell silent whenever the pair outside sitting comfortably in the ring of the firelight began to talk.

To start, there wasn't really that much being said outside anyway, and during the silences Mushu took the opportunity to voice his opinions on their new addition to his companion.

After the tent had been successfully constructed almost entirely by Ching, Cri Kee-x had joined Mushu inside, not wanting him to be alone. It was a nice thing to do even if the cricket didn't share his mistrust of Kuo.

He paced a little, but had not strayed far from the tent flaps since Ching had made the feeble excuse of wanting to save some food for a midnight snack to bring Mushu some dinner.

Now that food was gone, only really satisfying his hunger. It made him feel no better about Kuo; on the contrary it made him wonder from where his small supper might have been taken.

He saw her rise and turn towards the tent for the night, which caused him to quickly shut the flap and jump to the opposite side of the tent with Cri Kee-x to pretend he was not watching her. This fooled no one.

To make things go more smoothly in the morning (or, in a few hours when they had to get up) Mushu tried to make himself comfortable in the travel bag. This would at least eliminate the odds that the boy would see him, and possibly enable him to get a tad more sleep.

* * *

They moved in silently after the group had gone to their respective tents. Only two of them, but they were large enough to make up for that.

The first tent they found was empty of anyone, but full of things that they themselves recognized, and it didn't please them much to see them in the possession of someone else.

Possibly only a tad lucky for Kuo, he was returning from a midnight 'jaunt' into the trees. Had he been there, they would most definitely have gotten the jump on him.

That is not to say that he had a plan when he saw them poking around his tent by waning firelight, but when one of them started going for Ching's tent he sprang forward. The other spotted and caught him mid-spring as the first slunk through her tent flaps.

Kuo fought against the one that sopped him and their tussle caused them to fall rather noisily onto his tent.

It took Mushu a few seconds to realize what was happening, he had been suddenly jostled awake by the bag being forcefully and quite quickly grabbed and lifted up and out of the tent.

He tried to turn around to peek out when he heard a shout and felt the bag being jerked from unknown hands. It had been Ching he had heard, and a replay of the night Pahlin was taken went through his head.

The other person didn't seem to be giving up the bag so easily, he could still hear Ching yelling for this thief to hand it over, and he got a bit disoriented being pulled back and forth.

While the man was distracted by Ching, Mushu attempted to loosen his grip. A quick scratch with his claws was all that was needed for Ching to gain the upper hand, but now it seemed the man was tired of tug-of-war, and grabbed Ching around the middle and slung her over his shoulder. Bag and all.

Mushu tumbled out onto the ground next to the now partially-collapsed tent. Ching screamed and kicked at the man – landing a few good strikes in – but he had her on his horse before Mushu could think of what to do. He looked around frantically; surely that stupid Kuo guy had heard her.

As his gaze fell on the boy's tent though, he could see that he had his own problems, so Mushu turned back to the thief's horse, only barely catching its tail as it began to gallop away. And it was really galloping, but he managed to keep his grip and climbed up to the back.

As the light from camp got smaller, Mushu's night-vision helped him to analyze the situation. The guy still had Ching on his shoulder and she was giving him all she had as she tried to free herself, but he was a pretty big guy and she was clearly not a fighter.

She was pounding on his back furiously but Mushu doubted if he could even feel it that much, and he didn't think she had seen him climb on... but luckily neither did the thief.

The getaway horse pounded its hooves as they made a mad dash to who-knows-where and Mushu thought he heard another set of hooves not far behind them, which meant that this guy's buddies were on their way too.

He tried to think quickly, glad Ching had stopped screaming and seemed more focused on finding a way out as well. It had been really distracting.

He tried to muster up a flame, but in his panic and rush the pathetic cinder that emerged barely singed his clothes.

Mushu felt the panic swelling up, clouding his thoughts as he tried to come up with something – anything – else.

He could hear the other horse behind them gaining speed, and the one they rode upon begin to speed up as well. He didn't think he'd been on a horse going this fast since Kahn.

As his thoughts turned to Kahn his mind suddenly cleared. Both Kahn _and _Pahlin hated him, could that possibly be true of all horses?

If he could find a way to get in front of it, the horse might pause just long enough for Ching to get herself free. If he was lucky.

Being careful to keep his grip and still not be seen by the thief, Mushu crept along the side of the horse as it continued to race along into the night.

His heart hammered as he chanced a glance down at its feet, those hooves sure looked like they were made for stompn', but he tried to chase his fears away. Ching's latest kick landed very close to him, and he stiffened up for a second. He could see her hair whipping around her head in the breeze from the velocity of this steed. She needed him now, and not just in an internal self-improvement way. This was a real danger, and he was the only one that could help.

Mushu felt his resolve return and made it to the horse's neck. He cringed – bracing himself for the impending fall and/or trampling – closed his eyes and sprung forward.

He flew past the head and landed a foot or two in front of it, but it didn't seem to have seen him. Mushu didn't even have time to straighten up from his landing when the hooves were upon him. His eyes were open now, and he had only a split-second to decide what to do next as the thundering front hooves past over him.

Without thinking he reached out an arm and caught one of the horse's back legs, he clung to it as he saw another set of hooves appear next to him. He ignored this second horse and concentrated on climbing just a bit higher. Reaching the place, he sunk his teeth into the sensitive tendon.

It was enough to make the horse give a yelping neigh and stumble, which jostled both the thief and Ching, bumping them into the horse beside them, which Mushu only now noticed was Pahlin.

This action had indeed loosened Ching enough to land a heel directly in her captor's face causing him to finally let go of her.

Mushu jumped for Pahlin's tail just as Ching jumped for his back, and now he noticed the hands that were reaching for Ching, holding her close to him as they broke away and turned back hastily for camp leaving the thief to continue on.

So Kuo had come after her too. Mushu was too relieved that his instincts hadn't failed him that he couldn't yet me annoyed about this.

The one who'd grabbed Ching didn't seem to be following them, and when they got back to camp the others who had come with him were gone too.

Apart from the sloping half-fallen look of it Ching's tent seemed fine, but the same could not be said for Kuo's. It was ripped and smashed beyond repair, and it didn't look like many of his few and surely purloined items remained.

Pahlin swished his tail vigorously for Mushu to get off, and he obliged only because it was just about as uncomfortable for Mushu as it was for him.

His arms ached and his heart banged against his chest as he landed on the ground. He lay still for a moment but felt like he was still moving.

Cri Kee-x hurried over to him, asking what in the world had happened. He had apparently hidden in the toe of his bed/shoe and felt very guilty for not trying to help. Mushu waved his hand and tried to shake his head as if to say he shouldn't, and they both watched from behind Pahlin as Kuo helped Ching down.

She looked quite shaken, and it seemed to take Kuo a fair bit of force to pry her off of him even after her feet were safely on the ground.

"You alright?" Kuo asked her, looking intently concerned. She nodded, words seeming to fail her. Mushu couldn't blame her for that.

Kuo went to inspect the damage done to his part of the camp, poked around his ruined tent feebly; looking like he knew it was a lost cause.

"It looks like they took about everything I've taken from them," he sighed. "I suppose I'm lucky they didn't kill me."

He looked over to Ching, who hadn't moved very far from where he'd left her. She didn't say anything. It looked to Mushu like words were still failing her.

"You know, I'm starting to think your suggestion about going straight might not be such a bad idea," Kuo tried to lighten the mood, and it did kind of help.

As he turned back to begin picking up his battered tent Ching began to move again, going to her own tent to fix it back up.

"Thank you," she managed to get out, sounding still a bit out of breath. It was simple, but it caught his attention.

Kuo looked back to her. "Oh hey, it's what I'm here for. I'm just sorry you had to be here when they finally caught up with me. I was sort of hoping that wouldn't happen though."

"But even so, I am very grateful," she said.

Now Mushu understood _his_ apologetic tones – he'd brought those guys down on them whether he'd meant to or not – but not her's. What did she have to be sorry about?

They went back to their tidying up after that, and as Mushu rested on the grass he counted how many times that boy would look over to Ching only to look away awkwardly whenever she caught him. He knew that was _definitely_ more then ensuring she was still ok after this ordeal they'd had.

He tried to ignore how Ching looked almost as awkward each time she caught him. Watching this exchange for too long was making his stomach turn.

Well, he thought he should retreat to the re-erected tent and await his own gratitude from Ching. He was starting to feel pretty good about himself, guarded one safe and back on track come morning. Cri Kee-x snuck back in with him, wondering aloud whether or not Grandma Fa had known about this particular encounter.

Mushu had been wondering the same thing.

"Yeah, I know that hold ups and bumps along the way are just part of making a journey, but you'd think since Grandma Fa told us she saw what we needed to do she'd have given us a heads up on some of them. Especially meeting up with our obliging little horse thief here-" he stopped short, and it took Cri Kee-x a couple chirps to get him to continue.

While at the beginning of his rant he had just seemed slightly bothered and letting it out, now he looked down right indignant – with himself maybe – but whatever he had just thought of had really bent him out of shape.

"Oh no, no no. No way is this guy who she meant," he huffed to both Cri Kee-x and himself. His friend had to ask for more clarification.

He poked a claw back through the tent flaps and steered Cri Kee-x to look through the slit he had made.

They could clearly see Ching and Kuo still out by the wreckage. It looked slightly better now that Ching was helping, but it looked like he'd be sleeping out in the open for the rest of the night.

"That can not be the guy that Ching is supposed to marry," Mushu whispered harshly.

Cri Kee-x chirped a disbelieving 'what?' as Mushu closed the flap again.

"Yeah, Grandma Fa told me about that, that was a big reason why Ching was the one that was supposed to come with me."

Cri Kee-x stated that he didn't remember that part, and inquired if she knew about it either.

Mushu shook his head. "_I'm_ just remembering that little part now, the whole mess with Mulan kinda shoved it out of my head. Her family doesn't know either. How could I screw that up?"

He flopped down on his towel. The pleasant orchid scent of his little bed has long since worn off, and he felt it might have given some comfort had it still lingered.

Cri Kee-x scooted closer to him, saying that he shouldn't be so hard on himself, and asking uncertainly why it was such a bad thing.

"Because...the girl isn't even sure if she wants to get married yet, don't you remember? And here I am bringing her right to Mr. Pahlin Pilferer like some cosmic matchmaker?"

If this indeed was true, and meeting this boy whom grandma Fa singled out to him as one important thing that must happen on this trip, than what was Mushu supposed to do?

It wasn't just that doing that felt more to him like a manipulation than 'destiny', but he knew now how Ching felt about marriage, and he was pretty sure she wouldn't exactly jump at the chance to be fixed up, even if it was something coming from an ancestor.

But given that she was an ancestor - and therefore apparently in-touch with the 'other side' - she might know that what would happen would happen anyway. It was this kind of stuff Mushu thought he should be privy to, even Cri Ke-x was probably more clued-in than he was. He got that impression every so often.

He strained to remember the exact wording Grandma Fa had used "I don't think she said anything other than that we _would_ meet him, and he would be 'the one she was to marry.' She didn't expressly say anything about doing anything other than seeing to it that they met, and it looked like that 'destiny' had been fulfilled anyway. If Kuo was the one she was talking about, which Mushu still didn't want to convince himself of.

Cri Kee-x had been quiet for Mushu's entire thought process, and he looked around to find him snuggling down into his little shoe bed.

"What do you think?" he asked the cricket. Cri Kee-x had found a very comfy position, so tried not to move as he simply gave a tiny shrug. He merely insisted that _he_ liked Kuo. It didn't help much, but he did look sleepy. That might have just been the best Mushu could get out of him.

It was a while before Ching returned to the tent. There probably was not much sleep to be had as morning was soon to break, but she flumped back down onto her spot. She looked in a fairly good mood for someone who was nearly kidnapped just a few hours ago.

Mushu only lifted his head from his towel in her direction (he hadn't wanted to return to the bag, and quickly scrambled for it as she approached). "You two seemed chummy out there, what'd he say that was so amusing?"

"nothing really, I think he was just trying to lighten things up, and try to make things not as horribly-terrifying in hindsight as they were."

"I think you misjudge him. I mean, I was cautious too, but I have to give him some credit, he did kind of save me."

"Hey, I was there too, and I'll have you know that without my stopping that mad horse, that boy would not have been able to catch up with you to do his little maneuver."

"_Little maneuver_?"

"Yeah, and if I hadn't slowed it down he never would have caught up with that horse,"

Not even bothering to change, Ching stretched out on her sleeping spot, but kept her face towards Mushu. "I didn't see you slow it down."

"Well, believe me, I was there. Just sneaky and silent."

She chuckled and lay her head down finally. "You, silent?"

How could she not believe him? Mushu grumbled into his towel but didn't press the subject, at least for now. She needed whatever sleep she could get for the last legs of their journey to town.

* * *

_Author's Note: Not happy with this, but just flinging it out there for now since you haven't heard from me in so long. Would love to add onto this chapter when I can._


	15. Partings & Promises

So the theif was a hero now, at least in Ching's eyes it seemed. If her behavior afterwards and in the tent the following morning were any indication. If not to that extreme, it certainly had made her re-evaluate her opinions of him. The scale seemed tipped to the much more positive side. At the very least Mushu thought she'd be trusting him more.

…and at most he expected their wedding within the month.

Maybe he was being too critical of the boy. Hadn't he only been doing what Mushu was trying to do too, help Ching? Of course Mushu still thought if he'd had more time _he_ could have got her out of the perdicament without him swooping in there. He'd taken his own time doing so as well. Though the more level-headed side of Mushu recalled that the boy _had_ been having to fight off the other attackers.

The more prominent side of him though – that housed his bruised ego – was still not ready to be so understanding.

Though as Mushu watched he and Ching interact from his hiding places with Cri Kee-x, he thought perhaps he could try, for her sake. He s'posed he knew enough of second chances himself that he shouldn't be so quick to deny them, either.

His and Cri Kee-x latest traveling method – in Ching's bag – wasn't as bad as Mushu let on. He had been getting used to it, but he still felt it was worth bringing up the drop in comfort level to her from sitting on the back of Pahlin.

Ching had insisted on being the one to actually hold the reins and guide her horse, so she sat in front while Kuo took their old spot behind her. Mushu kept an eye on the boy's hands, just because he was sitting behind her that didn't mean he should be holding her waist any more than he had to.

"I have teeth, and I _will_ use them,' he mumbled from the depths of the bag. Cri Kee-x chirped that he didn't think Kuo could hear him. "Even so," Mushu added.

The boy also seemed intent on learning more about Ching since he had shared so much about himself with her. Before the events of the previous night she hadn't shared much about why she was traveling to Kin Xia, and if they hadn't happened Mushu didn't think he would get much else out of her.

"So, after you get into town and do whatever it is you need, what do you plan to do then? Return home?" he asked her.

"Well, of course," she answered automativally, adding after a pause, " It's only afterwards I'm not so sure about."

"Oh?' he turned this one word into an inquiry, but as she had done before, she deflected with a question of her own.

"How about you? Once we reach town and part ways, what will you do?"

He waited for a minute, probably hoping that she'd answer his question first, but she didn't budge. "Well, that's pretty hard for me to figure. If I can't find work then I really don't know."

"Do you think you'd ever consider returning home?" she asked.

"Not a chance," he answered shaking his head even though he knew her eyes were staying straight ahead. "I mean, every now and then I've imagined what it might be like if I did go back, but every time I just don't think I could face it."

After a moment, he added, "Face my father, I mean."

"What about your mother and your sister, don't you think they miss you?" she actually turned her head slightly to look back at him. "How long have you been gone, exactly?"

Kuo seemed surprised that she remembered that he'd mentioned his mother and sister. "I hadn't really thought about that."

"Plus I'll bet having you home might counter any dissapointment your father might have, especially if you've been gone for so long." Ching continued.

"You don't know him," Kuo said. "I fear the longer I'm gone, the more Id have to hear about it if I did go back, so I just don't. That is if he'd even talk to me. But it's simply easier for me at this point."

"You shouldn't run from your problems, Kuo. If the army wasn't for you than you should have just gone home and told him. Sure he might be dissapointed, but I'm sure ultimately if you found something you were good at he'd be proud of you. It's impossible to make everyone happy."

Mushu had to risk being see by the boy to poke his head out of the bag and make sure he had heard Ching properly. Not only because this was the first time he could recall her calling Kuo by his name (and Mushu was resolving to use it in his head more as well) but he also had to feel a little proud hearing his own advice coming out of her mouth.

He caught her eye with his smug grin, and she tilted her head slightly in his direction, "Yeah, yeah, I know" she said reluctantly. Obviously she remembered where those words had come from.

"Come again?' Kuo asked. Ching turned back to him, she hadn't meant that to be so loud.

"Um, well, I was sort of…talking to myself. I just sort of came to a conclusion about my own situation. That's something I've been having to learn as well"

Kuo seemed interested again about possibly getting to hear more about her. "Oh really? So what will _you_ do when you return home, then?"

Ching seemed to have walked right into that one, and from the corner of her eye she could see Mushu waiting for the same answer. She took a moment to think about it.

"Honestly, I don't know," she said to both of them. "I mean, I think I know what I'd like to do. I hadn't wanted to go on this trip, but now that I've gotten out and away from my home I'm finding it sort of freeing. I have not been out of my small village ina long time. Just once, to visit my maternal grandparents. But I was so young I barely remember that."

She snuck another glance down at Mushu and smiled. "I don't think that my decision will be met with anything very positive – at least from my parents, my father specifically – but my grandparents might be on my side. I really would like to travel, see this kingdom that my family has helped protect. They'd worry for me I know, but I just feel I am not ready to settle for being a wife whose sole purpose is to please her husband. Whoever that is, he'd get to see the world, and I would expected to never leave."

Looking back up at the road, she continued. "It may not be smart or safe some of the time, but it is what I feel I must do, and I may get married one day, but not when everyone says I should."

_So she has it,_ thought Mushu. _She's finally worked out what she wants. Now the question is, will she be brave enough to actually tell her parents all this?_

"That all sounds good, but will you actually tell them all that?" Kuo asked Mushu's question for him. Mushu was a little weirded out that they'd been on the same wavelength, but he was glad he'd asked anyway.

Her confident expression faltered. "I sure hope so," she said a bit nervously.

* * *

It wasn't all that impressive, just a small pouch full only part of the way with some dried up plant bits. Nothing about it said that it was such a special rare item that they'd have to travel so far for. They paid for it all the same though.

To tell the truth to Mushu it seemed a bit of a gyp, sorta anti-climactic. But he knew though that the important thing was that they had it. The thing they had sought to help Mulan.

Kin Xia was a busy place, bigger than the little village they had come from – certainly one of the busiest places Ching had ever been – but not as big as the Imperial City.

They didn't stay long to look around though; Mushu figured though that Ching might return if she came back this way on those travels she was hoping to have.

Now that their journey was nearing completion though, Kuo's presence was no longer needed; he and Ching would have to part. Mushu waited impatiently inside the bag as they said their goodbyes on the outskirts of the town.

"You sure I can't convince you that I should come along on your return journey?" Kuo asked, as he had a couple times during their ride. "I could be useful."

"Thank you, but I can manage. I need to get back quicker than I came anyway," Ching said. "I do appreciate the offer, though" she added quickly.

Mushu watched them as they lingered, seeming like they were holding off actually parting. He was growing indignant. Cri Kee-x peeking out beside him though was quite enjoying watching the two stall for time.

"So…are you going to tell your parents you want to travel?" Kuo inquired blatantly.

"Are _you _going to go home and see your family?" Ching asked in a similar fashion.

They both laughed, but both were serious in asking.

"How about this, I promise to go home if you promise to tell your parents what you want. Then we can meet back here and we can travel together. That is if you be alright with me tagging along," Kuo said. "Also if they haven't killed us," he added jokingly.

Ching smiled, skipping over the joke, and then nodded. "That sounds good, and I think it might be nice to have some company. That is only if you keep up your half of the bargain, though."

They lingered a bit longer, but finally Kuo was turning back towards town and Ching was getting on the horse. As they rode away Mushu made a big show of leaping out of the bag and back onto his spot behind Ching on Pahlin. "I didn't think I'd actually miss this fly magnet's lumpy back so much." (This earned him a little bucking bronco imitation from Pahlin, but Mushu managed to stay on.

"Now don't you guys start that again," Ching reprimanded them. "I thought you two had gotten past this, and anyway we don't have time."

She was right, Mushu knew, but he still doubted that he'd ever really warm up to their equine transport.

"Was that alright though?" Ching asked Mushu after a moment, turning her head slightly so he knew she was addressing him. "My arranging to travel with Kuo?"

"Sure, I guess," he said. Why was she asking him? "I mean, I'm sure that since it's part of what you wanna do, that your ancestors will be fine with it. If that's what you're worried about. I might omit that part from when you tell your parents though; depending on you think they'd feel about you running around with a strange man."

"Well, I was actually wanting to know if it was alright with you personally," Ching clarified a bit awkwardly. "Since I didn't know if you'd want to come along too."

"Oh," Mushu said. He was touched that she'd want him to come with her, and he felt that odd frisson again, and made him recall that night with the stars and all the crickets. But his heart sank into his stomach as he realized…he didn't know what would become of him upon their return.

"I'd want to…I just don't think I'll be able to."

"How come?" she asked.

"Cause it's almost done, this mission, or whatever you wanna call it. Once we get back, I'll probably have to go back to the temple. Then once I'm back on my pedestal…who knows when I'll get to come out again."

Ching seemed to have forgotten about Mushu having to return to his duties, and he almost had too. Or rather, he'd been trying to forget about that particular part of them. That frozen sleep. Then when he awoke again, where would Mulan be? Where would Ching be?

"Well, maybe it's a good thing that you stay, then." She said. (_look who was being optimistic_) "If I leave, who will take care of my brother? I mean, I know my parent s will raise him well, and my grandparents for as long as they can, but it would really make me feel better about leaving if I knew that if they weren't around he'd still be alright. That I'd have a good friend watching him for me, a good guardian friend."

She smiled at him as he put his hands on her shoulder to look up at her face. It touched him even more that she trusted and believed in him so much. They had truly changed since the start of all this, and it just made him dread it ending even more. But he was able to answer her (amazingly) without choking up.

"And I will. You won't have to worry about that, I promise."

* * *

Indeed as Ching had predicted, the return journey was much quicker. It was also much more pleasant, with everyone getting along now (except Mushu and Pahlin) it actually made Mushu wonder if maybe things were going _too_ well.

They even made it back home without any major stops. It was probably an understatement to say that all three were relieved to finally be back, even if Mushu still had this nagging feeling that this sense of security might be false. He tried to push it to the back of his mind. They were home now, and they had what they left for. Mulan would get better, and Ching would be more confident in her own life, everything coming ouut bright and shiny.

Even though he would have rather gone to see Mulan first, Mushu thought that Grandma Fa might want a report of sone kind, and maybe he could ask for a little more time with them, see Mulan and wish Ching good luck. Cri Kee-x followed along as well. When they got there though, the temple was still and quiet as usual. No shimmer of light nor spector appeared to greet them as they approached.

"Uh, hey!" Mushu called out unsurely. Still nothing happened. They walked around the head stones and looked up at the other guardian statues. "Yoo-hoo, anybody home?" he called again.

Cri Kee-x gave a few chirps, and went to a shadowy corner to find his gong, but returned with a confuzzled chirp that it wasn't where he'd left it.

"That's strange' said Mushu, taking another look around the temple. He hadn't expected a lot of attention for his return, but he hadn't expected _no one_ to appear. Did they not care that he'd returned to save their famous descendant? He'd at least think Grandma Fa would pop up and say 'hey thanks, good job' or…something.

But…maybe his duty was still yet unfulfilled. Mushu might possibly have a bit more to do before anyone came out to congratulate him and/or send him back to his frozen state.

And as unnerving as this was, Mushu felt a little relieved about it too. This would give him more time with Mulan and Ching. If he had more to do to help them, that was more time to relive the good days.

Trying to focus on this last part, and not the creepiness of a silent temple, Mushu motioned for Cri Kee-x to follow him back into the house. Ching's mother might have the medicene made up all how it was supposed to be for Mulan, and he wanted to be there when she woke up.

* * *

_Authors' Note: Ok, this time I mean it, we are CLOSE TO THE END. This IS the penultimate chapter!_

_I really want to thank you guys who have stuck by me, and kicked me in the butt when I kept getting distracted and spread myself too thin, we are almost there, and I really hope it'll be worth the wait._

_Also I did promise that once it was all done is when I'd premire something special, which I shall. Let's hope that day comes soon!_

_I did check over my spelling/grammar, but I'm sure stuff slipped through, so give me a little bit of slack in that dept, if you please. _


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